Cook For Me Tenchan?
by TCurry
Summary: Naruto and Tenten share an unusual meeting. An unlikely arrangement causes them to work together. A devious plan forms between the two to gain the attention of those they admire, but will they follow through or find something in each other? Naru/Ten
1. First Meetings

**Hey Guys**

**As most of you are aware this was IceCreamCloud's fic originally but he/she couldn't continue it**. **Everything will stay the same aside from the author notes which I will change only if necessary. IceCreamCloud has my e-mail and will be sending me documents if he**/**she can, i will notify you when a chapter is posted by them.**

**Also I did not change the summary, IceCreamCloud made a last minute change before I adopted the story, and I helped a little. **

**Well, since Naru/Ten is one of my favorites expect good things out of this fic, hope you enjoy.**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

It was a usual day for the bun-headed brunette. She walked happily down the street towards the store. The amount of food in her apartment was getting dangerously low and she needed to restock fast if she wanted to eat in the upcoming week. The village had calmed down to an extent after Orochimaru attacked and the third Hokage died saving them all. Now she heard rumors that a new Hokage was taking up the position, and better yet it was her idol, Tsunade-sama.

She walked into the store expecting to be greeted by a silent air as it always was when she came, but there was a loud yelling coming from the front where the cashier was located. Naruto was standing in front of the clerk who was had a terrified look on his face. He had a basket next to him full of…were those ramen cups? The basket was nearly overflowing with them. He stood next to a tall blond woman who had her back to Tenten.

"What do you mean I can't buy them all!?"

"I-I'm sorry but there are other customers who enjoy ramen sir. We just received a shipment of them and won't be getting another for a while."

"Baa-chan! You said I could buy as much as I wanted to! I won the bet!"

"Please give him the ramen sir and put it on the Hokage's tab"

'_Hokage's tab? No way…that couldn't be"_

Tenten inched herself around to get a better look at the woman he was standing next to. All she could see was her blond hair and the green jacket she had on. If she tried to inch around further she would definitely be caught. The woman turned around after sensing someone was watching her and came face to face with some girl with her jaw dropped. Naruto turned around with a big smile on, happy he had finally received his ramen.

"Hey Tenten! Have you met Baa-chan?"

Tenten face dropped farther than it had before. She couldn't be. The legendary sannin Tsunade was Naruto's grandmother!? It was impossible! There wasn't a trait they shared anywhere, except the blond hair, and Naruto's was a darker tinge. There wasn't any way in the world it was true. Tenten was so drawn in her thoughts that she didn't see Tsunade bop Naruto on the head for calling her a grandma again.

"Tenten was it?" Tsunade asked

Tenten nodded dumbly, not believing her idol spoke her name.

"I'll have to apologize for Naruto, he learned his manners from his perverted sensei."

Tenten nodded again, her mouth still hanging low.

"I did not! If I did I would be glomping her right now!"

Tsunade gave him another bop on the head while Tenten turned red from the comment.

"What are you doing here anyway Tenten?" Naruto asked, nursing his head

"I-I needed to get f-food because I-I'm nearly out." Tenten stammered

"Is that so? How much food did you plan on buying today?" Tsunade asked

"Only a couple vegetables and a little meat. The missions I've been doing lately have all been D ranked and my rent has left me with little to spend." Tenten's head hung low.

Tsunade assumed Tenten was one of the many children who had been orphaned by the Nine-tails attack. It was amazing that she had gotten along by herself. Most other orphans were still living in orphanages "How about you buy what you need to survive, and more if you want to, but in return I give you harder missions that I expect you to complete. Deal?"

Tenten couldn't believe her ears. She was getting two of her favorite things, food and tougher missions, from the woman she considered a goddess. She grew tired of receiving easy missions and never liked them in general, they were boring. However, she did know when not to accept tasks she had no chance of coming back from alive. As for food Tenten did not starve herself like many other female kunoichi, it all burned off during training anyway.

"Really Tsunade-sama? Everything I need?"

"Hai, but you have to promise."

"I-I promise!"

"Baa-chan what about me!? I hardly get by where I'm living!"

"Oh Naruto, I forgot you're both orphans. You've already bought all the ramen cups in the store though." Naruto gave Tenten a shocked look and she returned it. Neither had known of the others history.

"I know that, I meant about the missions."

Tsunade ignored him "Tenten do you cook well?"

"H-Hai, I make what I can"

Tsunade understood, the girl had probably made several easy meals considering she lived alone and no one had ever taught her. It was unhealthy for her to have little to no nutrition in her diet like Naruto did. Naruto had a living chakra entity inside him that kept him healthy while Tenten had only her regular digestive system. It would only hurt her in the long run.

"Naruto promise you will go on difficult missions without failing them and that you will go over to Tenten's three days a week for a real meal. You will also be there to test her cooking. Deal?"

Naruto contemplated this for a minute. There wasn't anything he could lose through this agreement. He didn't know much about the weapons loving kunoichi other than she liked throwing things. She seemed nicer than Sakura-chan, even though she wasn't as pretty but her kindness compensated for it. He decided to take her up on the offer.

"As long as I get harder missions Baa-chan I agree. If Tenten is okay with it I'll be too" Naruto sent a large grin Tenten's way.

"I suppose, but if you insult my cooking..." Tenten warned, brandishing a kunai out of her sleeve. Naruto wondered if she carried those everywhere on her person.

"Good, then you both grab a few things and head back to your homes. Naruto you will be at Tenten's every other day of the week. If you wish to and she is fine with it you can go over more often. I'll see about getting a jounin instructor to watch over you on your missions, the village won't allow it otherwise."

"Thanks Baa-chan! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Five Narutos sprung appeared and started grabbing random things and stuffing them in a basket for Tenten. Seconds later the store was missing many items but had enough to still function, Tenten sported a happy smile as the other Narutos dispersed leaving her with the other two in the store.

"Naruto help Tenten carry these to her apartment and memorize where you're going so you don't get lost tonight. I have to head to the tower."

Naruto sighed and made another couple shadow clones. They picked up the basket and heaved it out the door after Tenten. The other couple clones headed to his apartment to put his ramen away. He couldn't wait for the missions, they would help him test his training and pay more too. Kami knows he needed the money.

Tenten didn't know much about Naruto. The only thing they had in common was their history, nothing else. She was older than him by one year and had been a ninja longer. Tenten hoped she didn't have to put up with an immature attitude. He was nice enough to carry her food home, so that was a good sign.

Naruto looked up when Tenten stopped. They had reached an apartment building not much different than his, it was certainly as clean as his, which wasn't saying much. Tenten walked up the stairs with five other Narutos and stopped at a small door. All of Naruto's clones dispersed and Tenten opened the door to a moderately cleaned room. There wasn't anything on the floor, the bed was made, everything was neatly arranged. Naruto dragged the food inside.

"Wow Tenten, you keep your place neat"

"Arigatou, but don't touch anything."

"Why? Anything in here I shouldn't be seeing?"

"No, I have a lot of pointy objects in here and I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself"

"Hey! I'm a ninja too! Pointy objects get thrown at me all the time" Naruto said with a huff, his arms crossed.

"But you've never been to my apartment. If you want to go touch something go ahead, I'm not taking you to the hospital." Tenten walked into a little kitchen behind a bar to put the things away. Naruto wasn't within range of her eyesight anymore but he couldn't do too much damage on his own. She heard a scream come from middle room and ran in, thinking something had happened to him.

Naruto was suspended atop the farthest wall, shuriken keeping him in place by his clothes. He smiled sheepishly.

"Uh Tenten, can you get me down?"

"What did you touch?" she started removing the small ninja stars

"You don't remember what's in your traps? Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"I remember most of them, but there are a couple that when triggered shuriken are released. One should have at least grazed you, maybe I need to up my traps a little." She pulled out the last star, allowing Naruto to drop to the ground.

"All I did was get on the bed! What kind of trap is that!? Don't you have to worry about that when you go to sleep?"

"What did you do exactly on the bed?"

" I just sat on it!" Naruto said, obviously lying.

"You jumped on it didn't you?"

Naruto looked down, embarrassed. He only wanted to see if her bed was as bouncy as his, which it was tenfold. He had enjoyed it until the shuriken interrupted his fun and pinned him to the wall.

"I was only testing something!"

"Do you have to yell?"

Naruto stood there, dumbfounded. Nobody had ever completely outwitted him like this. Tenten seemed smarter than Sakura, which meant if he argued further he would only be making an ass out of himself. Either that or she would make an ass out of him, both ways there was no positive gain for him in the situation. He might as well drop it and hope to win the next battle.

"Gomen Tenten, I was wrong to jump on your bed" Naruto said with a slight bow

Tenten looked at the boy strangely. This was the number one most unpredictable ninja of the leaf? Well he certainly did surprise her, she had expected a long argument. Maybe these nights cooking for him wouldn't kill her, she could probably learn more about him too, if she chose to.

"No problem, just be careful like I told you. Better yet, come into the kitchen and help me put away all this food."

Naruto nodded and followed her. The was a small fridge in the kitchen along with a little table with two chairs. They would have to shove all the groceries in the refrigerator to make it fit. Naruto and Tenten set to work, handing the food to one another so it would go faster. When the were finished and the fridge door was secure they both rested at the table. There wasn't anything to do yet, it was still pretty early in the morning.

"What do you plan on cooking tonight Tenten?" Naruto's stomach was already going on low, he would have to head to Ichiraku in a moment.

"I don't really know. Maybe some stir fry or fish, I haven't decided yet."

"Fish? We eat that all the time when we're out on missions"

"Have you ever had it when it's cooked by using something other than just fire?"

"But how is that any different?"

"All right then, I'll make fish tonight. Come with an empty stomach"

"An empty stomach!?" Naruto wailed, he hated being hungry.

"Yes, now shouldn't you be heading off to train or something?"

"No, I have nothing to do for the rest of the day. I trained all day yesterday and I'm running out of training methods for myself. It's hard not having a sensei"

" I can teach you some Kenjutsu if you're interested since I have nothing to do for the rest of the day."

"Can we head to Ichiraku first, I'm starving"

"Ichiraku?" The name sounded familiar

"You don't know about Ichiraku!? We have to go now!" Naruto grabbed her hand and nearly dragged her out of the door. Tenten hardly had enough time to lock it before she was pulled through Konoha for a little ramen stand. Anyone who would have be looking would see Naruto holding Tenten's hand while running through Konoha. As luck would have it, Naruto's female teammate, as well as Tenten's male Hyuuga teammate did happen to catch a glance of the speeding duo as they passed by the Yamanaka flower shop.

_'Naruto and Tenten? Am I seeing things?' _Sakura thought

Neji brushed it off and looked the other way. He soon found himself following the two though, he had to protect his teammates after all. Sakura decided to follow them, she had to make sure that her teammate wasn't getting himself into something she knew he would regret. Since when did Naruto prefer older women?

The two finally arrived at the ramen stand while their teammates kept a good distance from it. Close enough to hear but not to be spotted.

"Hey old man! I need four bowls of miso and one pork!"

"Sure Naruto, what about your lady friend? Diet ramen?"

Tenten was about to protest to her being called Naruto's lady friend but she decided against it, it wasn't as if he thought they were dating or anything. If he did she would just correct them nicely and get on with her meal. "Did you say diet ramen?"

"That's right young lady. It's popular among the kunoichi"

"No thank you. I'll take a bowl of beef please"

"Coming right up! Ayame! Four miso, one pork, and one beef for our number one customer and his friend"

Ayame poked her head out from the back "Hi Naruto! Good to see you again!"

"You too Ayame-nee-san!"

The cook and his daughter went into the back to start preparing the two ninja's meals. Tenten wondered what was so special about this little stand, it looked so much like the others. Naruto had insisted they come so the food must have been good. Her thoughts were interrupted by a bowl of beef ramen sliding in front of her. The old man gave her a smile and Naruto looked at her expectantly.

Tenten hesitantly picked her her chopsticks and looked at the two again. The old man had gone to the back with his daughter to make the rest of the food, but Naruto was still staring at her as if his entire life was at risk if she liked the food or not. Tenten broke her chopsticks and muttered an 'Itadakimasu' before tentatively slipping her utensils into the bowl and putting some noodles in her mouth.

Naruto stare intensified if possible. The only thing he was focused on was Tenten, nothing else mattered at that moment. He had never met anyone who had not liked Ichiraku and he was sure she wouldn't be the first. The other two outside also noted Naruto's body shift so that it was facing the weapon loving kunoichi. The torso of Naruto leaned towards that of Tenten which was enough to get the two outside wondering.

Tenten started eating her noodles at a faster rate. They were absolutely delicious! She had never tasted ramen so well prepared and it was just ramen! The things this man could do with other foods probably surpassed anything she could ever think of. She finished the noodles and picked up the bowl to drink the broth.

"Naruto your girlfriend enjoys ramen almost as much as you" Ayame called from the back.

Tenten spluttered and started choking on the remaining broth. Naruto blushed deeply but got up to help his comrade, he couldn't just leave her choking. He awkwardly patted her on the back. Tenten stopped a few moments later, Naruto's hand still patting her lightly.

Neji thought about possibly using the byakugan, but he didn't want to pry any more in Tenten's business. He could just casually walk in and order some food, there was also no need to waste the chakra. Sakura had no such ability though. She was torn between walking inside or going home, but then she would just be curious later. Both abandoned their hiding spots and went to open the flaps that were in the way of their view. Neji and Sakura reached the stand at the same time but paid no mind to each other. They opened the tent flap to see what they had expected but were still surprised.

Naruto had his left hand on Tenten's back, gently massaging it, while his right was on her knee. His face was a red that matched the counter in Ichiraku and Tenten's was the same. Tenten's blush only intensified when noticed Neji had walked in and Naruto's was equally red when he noticed Sakura. The two stared dumbly at the 'couple' that sat before them, strange feelings of jealousy and rage boiled within them.

"Ah Sakura, did you congratulate Naruto and his girlfriend on their relationship yet?" Teuchi asked from the counter.

Naruto smacked his head against the counter, along with Tenten. They both looked up to see the people they were currently infatuated with paying them more attention than usual. Tenten had always had a thing for Neji and Naruto the same for Sakura. In both cases the latter did not pay enough attention to them to even notice their feelings, what was it that was different this time? Could it be jealousy?

Tenten looked at Neji, sure enough she had never seen him show such emotion, even though it wasn't that much. Naruto did the same for Sakura. She looked ready to hit him, but it didn't seem like for the reason she usually did. He looked at Tenten who looked back, a sly smile on both their faces.

They nodded to one another, Naruto grasped Tenten's hand and walked out the restaurant past the other two shocked teens. It was surprisingly smooth, he got the sudden urge to hold onto it for longer. Naruto had even forgotten the other ramen he ordered. Both ninja walked hand in hand towards Tenten's apartment, leaving the other two to their own devices.

"Where are they going?" Sakura asked

"In the direction of Tenten's apartment" Neji answered

They both had scowls on their faces and feelings of remorse as the people who used to adore them now walked off with each other.

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**One more thing, the first four chapters are entirely IceCreamCloud's writing with a little beta-ing from me on the side. They are property of IceCreamCloud, not me.**

**REVIEW!! CRITIQUE!!**


	2. New Mission

**Hey guys**

**This is the second chap of IceCreamCloud's original work.**

**Enjoy**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor am I affiliated with it in any way**.

Tenten and Naruto walked hand in hand towards her apartment, casually making glances over their shoulders to make sure their respective crushes were still following them. Neji lurked in the shadow of an alleyway, leaning out towards the edge. Sakura hid not so discreetly behind a magazine, her bubblegum shoulder length hair sticking out from the sides of it. They both smiled and continued their walk, eventually arriving at Tenten's apartment where Naruto surprised her by opening the door for her to enter first. He held it open while bowing exaggeratedly, causing Tenten to giggle.

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Sakura stood not too far from the apartment with an open mouth. Had Naruto actually acted a gentleman and opened the door for her? What were they going to do while inside? She tore her eyes away from the building and looked to her left, Neji had his eyes closed in what looked like intense concentration. Veins started appearing slowly around his eyes, he was starting to activate his byakugan. Sakura slowly approached his left.

"What are they doing?" she whispered.

Neji lost focus, nearly falling over in the process. "What are you talking about? I can't see anything" He turned away and started walking in a different direction. A red tint of embarrassment on his cheek from almost being caught peeping.

"I saw you using your eyes."

"It's not our business" Neji stated coldly, still walking away.

"Don't you care what they're doing in there? What if she's taking advantage of Naruto?"

Neji stopped, the thought of laughing at such a ridiculous idea came to him but he ignored it.

"What makes you think it couldn't be the other way around?" He responded

"Which is why we need to make sure!"

"When did you start to care about him?" Neji bluntly stated

Sakura had no answer

"Exactly. Go home, it's their business, not ours"

Sakura turned toward her home. For some reason the thought of Naruto being alone with Tenten stayed in her mind. Neji was right, it was their business. If she really wanted to know she could just ask him some other time. She started her walk home at a slow pace, still pondering what the two were doing.

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After Tenten had walked inside she collapsed on the bed in a fit of laughter. Naruto soon joined her by falling against the wall nearest to the door, he was soon pinned to it by several kunai. It took Tenten a few seconds to realize her dinner guest was once again pinned to the wall. She picked herself up from off the bed and started talking while removing them.

"I can't believe they followed us all the way here"

"Me either! Do you really think they were jealous?"

"I'm surprised you noticed" Tenten said teasingly

"Hey!"

"Well I've heard your pretty dense from Hinata, so I assumed you were too" Tenten cupped a hand over her mouth. She had promised Hinata she wouldn't tell anyone of her feelings. Even though the promise wasn't broken, she had given Naruto enough of an indication.

"I'm not dense!"

"I should get started on cooking" Tenten steered the conversation away from the female byakugan user.

Naruto groaned "On fish? It only takes a couple of minutes"

"Not the way I do it. If you want to watch you can, otherwise sit down at the table and wait."

He grunted and took his seat. Tenten pulled out a fish from the freezer, Naruto wondered how she was going to prepare it with only a stove and no campfire. She pulled out a large knife, cut the fish in half, then removed the head and the tail. Naruto wondered why she would go through such a grotesque procedure, but didn't question it. Instead he opted for asking a question that had been on his mind ever since they left the ramen stand.

"How did you know?"

Tenten stopped her work. She turned to him, the same question on her mind. "It's obvious, the way you follow her around and how you're always asking her on dates. How did you know about Neji?"

"Bushy brows told me"

"What!? Lee?" Naruto nodded "I'm going to kill him"

"It wasn't his fault" Naruto came to Lee's defense "We were both talking during the elimination round during the chuunin exams"

"About me?"

"About girls in general. Bushy brows is quite the romantic"

"Lee into romance? All he thinks about is fighting"

"Actually, he used to talk about you a lot." Tenten's mouth dropped for the second time that day " Why do you think he always trained in front of you?"

"He liked me?"

Naruto shook his head "and you called me dense"

Tenten said nothing, she turned back to the meal she was preparing. After cutting the fish and seasoning it, she covered each piece in flour. Naruto's eyes watched her intensely, her movements were fluid, she made no mistakes. The meat was thrown into a deep pot and left to cook while Tenten took a seat across from him.

"So what do we do now?" She asked

"I don't know. I'm pretty sure they think we're dating" he answered

" They might even talk to us about it. Should we tell them the truth?"

"I think Sakura-chan would hit me if she found out it was only to make her jealous."

"I know Neji would be disappointed in me if he found out"

"So we don't let them know."

"Right"

"We're dating then?" Naruto asked, a light blush on his cheeks

"O-Only if you want to, and only when they're around, but we have to make a deal" Tenten said, her face equally tinted

"What deal?"

"If either of them asks us out, we break up with each other. Deal?"

"Deal"

"Good, let's eat then"

Tenten took the fish out of the pot, it was now a light brown color. Naruto looked at it suspiciously, then took a bite because of Tenten's hot glare on him. The food was crunchy as it entered his mouth, then it became softer as he neared the core. Naruto took another large bite as soon as he was done with the first, he had never had fish like this. In his personal opinion Tenten had to be a genius to be able to cook fish this way.

"It's great!"

Tenten tore through her food with as much gusto as Naruto. Her refrigerator had been almost empty before Tsunade generously refilled it. She had survived on the cheapest of foods, many times settling for instant ramen. That was the reason she was skeptical about Ichiraku the other day. All the ramen she had been having seemed like scraps so she was sure the little ramen stand would have similar tastes. She did take time out to thank him for his kind words though.

After the two were finished they both sat back with a loud sigh, happy that their stomach's were full.

"I can't believe how good that was"

"Why not?" Tenten tried to sound insulted but was far too full to sound like anything but content

"I mean for fish. Tenten you have to cook that more often"

"I plan on it"

"I should be getting home now" Naruto said while getting up. "Baa-chan might give us a mission tomorrow"

"That's if she found us a jounin sensei to supervise us"

"Hai. I have to go train tomorrow too. Can't be out of shape when the missions come"

"I can't wait for those" Tenten said, smiling

Naruto opened the door to walk out while Tenten held it in place, the brisk night air hit his face. He didn't even realize it was that late in the day. He was snatched back inside by Tenten who nearly slammed the door after. A pair of eyes narrowed in annoyance not too far from the apartment building.

"Tenten what was that-"

"It's Neji!" Tenten almost squealed "I can't believe he's actually spying on us!"

"How did you notice him?"

"I could feel his chakra signature not too far from where we're standing. We have to make this convincing."

Naruto nodded as the door was opened again, this time by Tenten. He walked out as casually as he could, then turned to face her. She smiled at him in what he assumed was false happiness but he couldn't really tell. Tenten enveloped him in a tight embrace, Naruto awkwardly returned it, putting his hands on her back and not daring to go any lower. She released him, Naruto tried to turn away but she held him in place. Tenten brushed her lips next to his ear and whispered something, causing Naruto to almost break out into another fit of laughter before giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek. Both blushed a light tint of red which made the situation even more believable as Naruto went on his way.

Neji Hyuuga rose from his position and headed home. It seemed he was acting somewhat hypocritical by not following his own advice. There was something about the two of them being together that bothered him, but the young genius had yet to find out what it was.

Naruto went towards his apartment as well, the feeling of Tenten's soft lips still lingering on his cheek. He knew it was only temporary, that they would cease to be whatever they were after their crushes asked them leave each other, but he couldn't shake the feeling of slight melancholy that came with the thought of leaving her. He did smile again as the words she whispered to him came back to mind.

_'I think Neji forgot how to use the byakugan, he's just squinting with his mouth open.'_

* * *

Naruto wasn't having the best of mornings. First, an ANBU had appeared in his room nearly scaring him to death, informing him that the Hokage wanted to speak to him. Then when he stepped in his shower the water had run cold, giving him a blast of ice cold water straight to the chest. If that wasn't bad enough, he had walked outside the bathroom then stood in front of the window, wondering what everyone was looking at. It was then he noticed that in his hurry to find warmth he had neglected to grab a towel and was now showing off his nude form to the villagers who already hated him. Now they would think of him not only as a demon, but also as a pervert. He walked towards the Hokage tower with his head hung low, at least the mission he hoped he was getting would better his day to some extent.

Tenten limped down a busy street towards the tower her Idol resided in. One of the Hokage's unique guards, the ANBU, had appeared in her room not thirty minutes earlier while she was putting her hair up and gave her the message to meet Tsunade at the tower. She was ecstatic about once again being in the presence of the woman who modeled everything she wanted to be, so much so that she accidentally stepped on a purposely loosened floorboard causing three kunai to shoot towards her position. She narrowly avoided the first two, but the third gave her a deep gash in her right leg. She quelled her anger and bandaged the cut up, then started out the door not even thinking to redo the trap. While she walked she thought of what Naruto had said, maybe he was right and they were too dangerous. Tenten's foot made contact with something, she raised her head and groaned at the difficult task ahead of her, the stairs. She absentmindedly thought if this was some punishment by Kami for what she and Naruto had pulled yesterday.

Naruto ignored all the heated glares and disgusted looks as he continued on his way. The tower came into view and along with it his assumed girlfriend. The thought made him smile despite how terrible his day had been going. She tentatively took a step up only to wince in pain as a bandaged leg with a small amount of blood stained on it met with the first step. Naruto rushed over to help.

"Hey Tenten, need some help?"

Tenten opened her eyes as the pain started to dull Naruto was squatted down in front of her with his hands behind his back. She smiled gratefully and leaned into his back as Naruto hefted her up by the backs of her knees. They went slowly up the stairs due to the extra weight he had to carry. When they reached the top she tried to slide off but he held her in place.

"I can walk Naruto"

"I know you can, but you shouldn't. Walking on that injury will make it worse"

"I'm not a baby"

"Didn't say you were."

"So why are you carrying me?" she said irritably

"Because I don't want you to get hurt."

Tenten had not expected that "why do you care?"

"Well we are dating now right?" Naruto turned around, his smile one of playfulness. They had reached the door of the Hokage's office.

"What if we are?" Tenten returned, her smile mimicking his.

"I think it's perfectly reasonable to worry about my girlfriend."

"I suppose you're right."

"Good. Baa-chan's probably got a mission for us, let's hurry so we can eat again before we leave!"

Tenten didn't have time to agree as Naruto rushed in through the doors, slamming both sides against the walls. Tsunade raised her head, clearly peeved that Naruto had probably put holes in the walls caused by the door handles. She quelled her anger and focused on the mission she was about to give the two genin. She opened her mouth to speak but Naruto interrupted her.

"Baa-chan can you heal Tenten?"

"What's wrong with her?" Tsunade inquired

Naruto looked over his shoulder, Tenten was clearly embarrassed to tell of her injury, which meant it was most likely self-inflicted.

"I cut myself on one of my own traps. It was just a kunai but it went pretty deep."

Tsunade sighed while raising her hand, beckoning Naruto to come closer so she could heal the girl. She made a few hand signs then applied her chakra to Tenten's gash, which began to close slowly until it was fully sealed. The internal healing would take a bit longer but it wouldn't really hinder her movements. Tenten slid off the blond, testing her bad leg first. It felt fine enough to walk and maybe train in, but she still wasn't at one hundred percent.

"Arigatou Tsunade-sama, did you call Naruto and me here for a mission?"

"Hai. It seems a few bandits are raiding nearby villages, your mission is to take them out. Once you dispatch them look for this girl among their captives, it's B ranked" Tsunade slid a picture towards them "She's a valuable member of the volcano village on the border of fire country. It's imperative that she make it here alive and unharmed,. For this mission I'm assigning the only available jounin at the time. He will meet you at the front gates in four hours. There will also be a five man cell instead of four, we don't want any mistakes."

"So we'll have two teammates and a sensei? That seems like a lot Baa-chan. Me and Tenten can do fine by ourselves."

"I don't know that yet Naruto. This mission is to test your skills working as a team, so don't screw it up. If you succeed I _may _assign something harder, now go get ready."

Naruto sighed and bent down, Tenten hopped on his back. They started towards the door but Tsunade's voice stopped them.

"Tenten why are you still riding Naruto?"

Tenten blushed and slid off her carrier. Naruto bent down to make her trip back to the ground less longer, allowing her feet to touch the floor softly. Tsunade held back a laugh at the two's reactions then sent them on their way.

* * *

Naruto had his bag packed full of scrolls and as many ramen cups as he could fit inside. He left towards the gate, the mission buzzing around in his mind. He took out the picture Tsunade had showed them, it was only the girl's head which was pale. Her hair was a dark brown color, it looked pretty long. Her green eyes stood out the most, they held a deep sadness within them that Naruto had seen too many times in other people.

He took off towards Ichiraku, he had time to grab a quick bowl before the meet at the gates. He jumped across rooftops, fully intending to get to the stand and get more than one bowl. When he finally arrived he pulled back the tent flap. Two hair buns were all he could see hovering over food bowl, it had to be Tenten. He called Teuchi from the back and prepared to order his bowl.

"Naruto, good to see you. Tenten almost puts away as much as you do."

"Really? I thought I had the record" A proud picture of Naruto with his stomach hanging out hung just above the door frame, it was the day he finished nearly sixty bowls of ramen by himself. He had stopped at fifty-nine after passing out.

"You do, but I think she could break it."

"That's impossible, no one can eat as much ramen as Naruto Uzumaki old man. I'll have three bowls of miso."

Tenten pulled her head away from the ramen bowl which was now empty "What makes you think that? Is it because I'm a girl?"

"No, it's just that no one can beat me at eating Ichiraku ramen, I've been their number one customer for years."

"That doesn't mean anything! I'll eat circles around you Naruto, especially if it's this ramen"

"Are you challenging me Tenten?"

"What if I am?"

"Care for a wager?"

"Depends on whats being bet"

"Well-" Naruto stopped, it was getting pretty late. They were due at the gates in a few minutes "We can settle this later, our team's waiting for us."

"When we get back?"

"If you want to lose." Naruto replied casually

Tenten shook in fury and took off. The blond ninja was already running towards the entrance to the leaf village with her hot on his tail. She didn't really know why she was chasing him, but that didn't matter, she was having fun. When Tenten was in reaching distance of Naruto she tackled the boy, landing atop him. They both stopped abruptly as they heard a voice clearing. The face of Gai greeted them warmly with his sparkling smile. Next to him stood Neji, a curious expression on his face. The pink haired girl holding a medical backpack next to them also had an expression of wonderment across hers. The silence was broken by the not so discreet sound of the green jumpsuit clad ninja's small 'ping' as his smile widened.

* * *

**Review/Critique/PM**


	3. Conversations

**Hey Guys**

**Finally got the third chap, sorry it's been so long but I've been getting the documents and checking them over for errors as well.**

**Once again, this is Icecreamcloud's work. With some of my beta-ing**

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor am I affiliated with it. If the owners of Naruto wish for me to take down this story I will at their request, this is purely for my entertainment, and hopefully yours.**

"Tenten! Naruto! Your youthfulness knows no bounds! Already working on teamwork!"

"Uh, yeah" Tenten replied awkwardly as she slid off Naruto and helped him up

Naruto thanked her as he rose He ignored the looks given to him and Tenten from their two teammates. Neji's face, which was aimed at Tenten, screamed disappointment. Naruto had only glanced over at Sakura as he was getting up but he did see her angry expression. He was focused on Tenten though and she on him, they looked at each other until Gai cleared his throat again.

"It's will be about three hours until we find the bandits if they are where Tsunade-sama designated, during that time we will work on teamwork. Tenten and Neji, you already know the proper formations for a five man cell. Naruto, Sakura, they will teach you individually if you don't already know. This will also be a good time to get to know the other person, team seven and my team haven't worked together as far as I know. Let the other person know about you. That means your weaknesses and strengths. This way one will be able to compensate for the other in the areas they are not skilled in."

Neji nodded, he understood but he wasn't in a hurry to spend more time with the pink haired medic nin. It was either her or Naruto, and he did have some questions for Naruto. Namely when he started seeing Tenten and how serious their relationship was. He had no say in the matter though, his sensei would be determining the groups.

Everyone else agreed. Gai stood still for a moment before closing his eyes, spinning around in a circle, then pointing to whoever his finger was directed at. Oddly enough it turned out to be Neji, who was used to his sensei's exuberant ways. He simply pointed to Naruto which Gai knew was his decision. The hyuuga was never very emotional but one of Gai's personal goals as long as he was the boy's sensei was to get him to open up.

"Yosh! That means Sakura and Tenten are together for the first half of the trip! Get to know each other, don't let your flames dwindle, share them with others so that they will shine brighter!" Gai yelled while pointing at the sky.

Tenten groaned and rolled her eyes, making it seem that she was doing as a reaction to her sensei's expressiveness. It was actually because she had wanted to be the first to be paired up with Neji. Even Naruto would have been a better choice than Sakura, who would ask too many questions. She would most likely not even focus on learning Tenten's strengths or weaknesses. They were doomed if she couldn't get it down in time.

Naruto was having a similar feeling to Tenten's. He had hoped to be paired with Sakura, things could have progressed faster that way. Instead he was stuck with Neji, an emotionless, destiny obsessed hyuuga who would hardly do any talking during their trip. He would only ask his questions about Tenten, which Naruto was actually looking forward to, and be silent the rest of the trip. He couldn't wait to rub it in Neji's face.

Sakura was neither happy or sad with the choices. If it had been Naruto she would have grilled him on when his relationship started and such. Neji wasn't much of a bother, he hardly ever talked so it would've been quiet yet productive. Tenten was Sakura's second best choice so it wasn't the worst thing that could happen, she would just politely ask Tenten about her relationship.

"Gai-sensei can I talk to Ten-chan before we leave?" If Gai was surprised by the nickname he didn't show it, his smile only widened.

"Of course, hurry it up though Naruto, we're leaving soon."

"Thanks Gai-sensei!!" Naruto grabbed Tenten's arm and pulled her over to the side of the gate. They walked behind one or the large double doors where they wouldn't be seen. Neji was tempted to use his byakugan but his sensei would have only questioned what he was doing, so he restrained himself. Sakura was not so disciplined however, she was noticeably inching her way closer to the large door. Gai stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, he shook his head in amusement.

"There is no reason to be angry that one's flame burns brighter than yours Sakura" He said in a strangely wise tone while still being himself.

Sakura smiled awkwardly. She walked towards Neji and waited for Naruto to return.

* * *

"Ten-chan?"

"Is it okay?" Naruto asked awkwardly. He had thought of the name on the spot in order to make the other two genin jealous.

"I don't know..." Naruto's face drooped a little "It doesn't bother me, but Sakura looked ready to punch me. It's going to be an uncomfortable walk"

"Sakura-chan's not great with controlling her emotions. Maybe it was because I don't add the -chan to anybody else's name."

"Maybe, but if I have to be uncomfortable then so do you."

"Huh?"

"Just think of it as payback for winning that argument earlier." Tenten said while mussing up her hair. She pulled Naruto's collar down a little, then gave him a stinging tap on the neck with two fingers, causing a small red mark to form slowly.

"Ite! What was that for!?"

"You'll find out" Tenten said with a smile while walking out from behind the large door, Naruto stopped her by grabbing her elbow.

"What if they ask about us?"

"About us and what?"

"Our relationship! Don't tell me you didn't think of it."

Tenten smiled sheepishly, she had forgotten to discuss the details with Naruto. "Well come up with something then."

"Okay how about I walked into Ichiraku one day and saw you eating a bowl of ramen. Then we talked during the meal and during that time you noticed my dashing good looks and asked me out. I wowed you on our date, then you offered to cook for me and we went back to your apartment. This is how we spent most of the last few weeks together until I asked you out and that's how we spend most of our dates. Ichiraku, talking, then back to your apartment for cooking. It'll explain what we were doing yesterday too"

Tenten had smiled up until 'dashing good looks' then frowned. This returned after Naruto came up with an explanation to what they were doing yesterday though. "It's a good story, just take out the offering to cook for you part, I don't like it. Also nobody just notices someone's 'dashing good looks' and asks for a date. You have to set more ground than that."

Naruto groaned, he had really thought about that "Well how about this.."

* * *

As the two walked out Gai ignored the obvious signs that they had indeed done more than talking and turned the other way. Neji narrowed his eyes at the small red mark on Naruto's neck. Sakura took in the appearance of Tenten's hair, which seemed to have been messed up only moments ago If Neji would have focused more intently on the mark Tenten had left on Naruto he would have noticed it wasn't what he thought it was, but anger clouded his thoughts.

"Let's go! Neji, Naruto, you two walk in the back while Tenten and Sakura take up the front. I will be in the middle in case anyone needs help, any questions?" No one said anything.

"See you later Naru-kun!" Tenten yelled when she had gotten close enough to Sakura

The genin took up their assigned positions. Naruto walked beside Neji who would occasionally throw him a glare out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't said anything to the hyuuga prodigy and they were already almost at each others throats. He glared back and resumed his walk, trying to listen in to what Tenten was discussing with Sakura at the front. They had started talking the instant the journey started.

* * *

"You and Naruto?" Sakura stated as her walking partner fell into step beside her.

"Hai"

"Wow, I never would have seen that coming"

"Why not? Tenten had meant to sound uncaring but the way her voice came out she sounded offended.

"I mean...Naruto and anyone I would've never seen coming. He isn't exactly the best choice out there"

"I think he's okay." Tenten came to the blonde's defense

"Just okay?"

"No...he's more than that. Naruto is the sweetest person I've ever had the pleasure of going out with. He buys me flowers, candy, and even trains with me." Tenten was thinking on the spot. She and Naruto hadn't discussed this.

"What's so sweet about training?"

"He makes it sweet, trust me." she smirked, causing Sakura to redden at what type of 'training' the two did together.

"How long have you two been together?"

"About five weeks"

"Five weeks? He hasn't gotten on your nerves yet?"

"Well sometimes he does say things that annoy me, but no relationship is perfect. He makes up for it though."

"Makes up for it?"

"Oh yeah. Have you ever seen him with his shirt off?" Tenten found herself imagining these things she was procuring from seemingly nowhere. She took pleasure in Sakura's face, it had a expression between surprised and pissed, leaning more towards the latter.

"You've seen him without a shirt on?" She said through gritted teeth

"Plenty of times, it's mostly during training though."

Sakura was quiet for an hour after that. Tenten assumed she was trying to calm down, seeing Naruto without a shirt on must have gotten her angry somehow. She noted Sakura was very possessive of her male teammate, but she was the same way about Neji, when he was around. After the period of silence Sakura spoke up again.

"How did it happen?" She nearly whispered

"What? Us getting together?" Sakura nodded slowly

"It happened a few weeks ago. I went to a ramen stand not too far from my apartment, I hadn't ever been there before."

"Ichiraku" Sakura said softly

"Hai. When I was almost done with my first bowl he walked in. We started arguing about who could eat more so eventually we agreed on a contest, if he could eat more I would go on a date with him. If I won he would call me superior and never come back to Ichiraku."

"So he won"

"Of course, I didn't know he could eat that much" Tenten had disagreed on this part of the story but she had gotten her say further on.

"What happened after that?"

"We went on the date. Naruto messed up so many times, he even started stuttering when he picked me up. We went to some restaurant I can't remember, he spilled the soup on me when they gave us our appetizers. Even worse he accidentally touched my breast when he tried to wipe it off, you should have seen his face after that, he looked ready to be hit after that accident."

Sakura's face had a hint of guilt on it, she had probably scarred Naruto for life after the the hits she had given him.

"I told him it was fine and we continued the date. It was pretty fun, even with all the mistakes he made, but whoever knew Naruto to be proper? One of the funniest memories of the evening was when he walked out of the bathroom with nearly the entire roll of toilet tissue on his heel."

Sakura laughed along with Tenten. It did sound like something Naruto would do.

"After that we went back to my apartment. I don't know why, but when he was about to leave I kissed him. It wasn't that I didn't want to, I just didn't want to rush it. Now I'm glad I did though, Naruto's a great kisser. We stood there kissing for what seemed like forever, then he went home." Sakura stopped

We had a lot more dates after that, then he asked me out three weeks ago. It's been fun so far." Tenten said, not realizing her walking partner was missing.

The entire group stopped as soon as Sakura had, except Tenten who needed to be called before she walked back to the group looking embarrassed.

"Gai-sensei?" Sakura asked in a voice with barely contained malice.

"Sakura?" Gai asked

"Can we take a bathroom break?" Gai nodded and told the others this would be the only one.

* * *

_Neji and Naruto_

Naruto was growing more annoyed by the second, the only thing that Neji had done to him in the last hour was glare at him. He had assumed that Neji would have questions, but the hyuuga was proud to ask them. Naruto did not want to be bored during this small walk, so he would have to be the one to initiate conversation.

"Ten-chan's great"

Neji remained silent, he didn't bat an eyebrow at Naruto.

"She really is. Have you ever been out with her alone? She an entirely different person."

"..."

"Especially when we train, I don't know how many times she's asked me to take my shirt off during it."

This time Neji did look his way but looked back so quickly Naruto wondered if he was imagining things.

"It doesn't help though, she almost killed herself last time. She focuses so much on me that she doesn't even know where her weapons are going. I don't know how many poor animals she's slaughtered because of me"

"Is that so?" Neji had finally spoken. The subject of his teammate's health was what pushed him to talk.

"Hai. Ten-chan has so many good qualities though. She has really nice, except when we're competing, then she gets angry easily. I don't mind though, even when she's angry she's cute."

"That all?" Neji asked, clearly annoyed

"No, she also has some nice legs. Have you seen her in shorts?"

"Shorts?" Neji answered, the image planted itself in his mind. The though of Tenten in shorts had never crossed his mind, but he did find the image interesting. Short shorts with small kunia symbols on them, that would be nice.

"Hai, but that's not the best part"

"The best part?" Neji inquired.

"You can't tell anyone if I tell you" Naruto said while leaning closer to Neji. He hadn't expressed anything except interest but at least Naruto had his attention. The next thing he would say would definitely push the hyuuga prodigy over the edge.

Neji nodded his head and waited for Naruto to whisper in his ear. Normally he wouldn't have bothered with gossip but it was about his teammate, and he still had the image of her in shorts in his head. That image would stay there for a minute.

"She's squishy"

"Squishy?" Neji knew he couldn't possibly be talking about what he thought he was. Naruto raised both hands to chest level and clenched them tightly, then released them. He repeated this about three times while Neji walked, dumbfounded. He brought his hands up to chest level as well to make sure he wasn't making a mistake and found he was not. He was so busy looking at his hands he ran into Gai, who had said something about a bathroom break.

* * *

Sakura strolled into the left side of the forest while Neji took the opposite side. Tenten turned to Naruto, a confused look on her face, but he just smiled at her. Tenten had spotted Neji with his hands still at chest level but had no answer for why he would be walking so ridiculously, what had Naruto done? Naruto had seen Sakura stalk into the forest, her hatred directed towards the trees, the sound of wood breaking would come eventually.

"Okay...Tenten, Naruto, You two will be partners the rest of the way. Learn what you-" A loud splintering sound came from both sides of the forest, a tree fell on the left side. The right side had no noticeable difference, except the large circular hole in the ground that the others could see from the path. It was quite a large kaiten, Neji must have expended a lot of chakra.

"As I was saying" Gai started as the other two returned "Tenten, Naruto, you will be paired. Neji and Sakura will continue the journey together. When we arrive we should come across a bandit camp, we will camp close until night. That's when we attack."

Everyone nodded and took up their assigned roles. Naruto walked next to Tenten in the front while Neji and Sakura took up the back.

"What did Neji say?" Tenten questioned when they had enough distance between them and the group.

"Not much of anything, but I think he would like to see you in shorts" Naruto said while snickering

"Shorts?"

"When I told him about the idea of you in shorts he almost started drooling. I think that's a good sign"

"How did you get to talking about me in shorts?"

"He uh...asked me what was so good about you. I told him you have nice legs"

"But you've never seen my legs."

"I was assuming. The way you're serious about training I assumed you had a nice body, Neji must have thought the same" Naruto said while reddening

"Oh..." Tenten was starting to blush "Well is that all?"

"Hai, that's everything" Naruto said in too much of a hurry. He didn't want to tell her about the squishy part. "What about Sakura-chan?"

"She got really mad at me when I told her I saw you with your shirt off, I swear she thinks you're her property."

"You've seen me without a shirt on?"

"No, I was assuming too. You train almost as much as lee, so you have to have some muscles"

"What else?"

"I told her about the first date we made up, she got really angry after that. Especially when I told her you accidentally touched my breast and we kissed."

"What!? I don't remember that!"

"I made it up" Tenten's blush intensified "it worked didn't it?"

"I guess it did."

"Is that okay with you? I don't want her to think you're a pervert or something"

"Hai, I'm sure Sakura-chan doesn't think that as long as you told her it was an accident. So should we get started on what our strengths and weakness are?"

"Hai, it would be good to get that done before we attack"

"Okay well...I'm not a long range fighter, I prefer to fight up close. I only know two ninjutsu that are offensive, and my taijutsu is average. Genjutsu is not my thing, I don't even know how to release it. I know nothing about kenjutsu."

"I know how to release genjutsu" Tenten started "I can do either long or short range but I prefer long. Kenjutsu is my specialty, my taijutsu is average, and I know no Ninjutsu. I can also seal weapons away in scrolls to use them in battle so I don't have to carry them around."

"Wait what was that last thing?"

"Me sealing weapons into scrolls?"

"Hai! We could use that!"

"How?"

* * *

**REVIEW!! CRITIQUE!!**


	4. To The Rescue

**Hey Guys**

**Last chapter of IceCreamCloud's work. I'll try to have another up soon, but I'm still editing my other stories.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Naruto and I do not own it.**

Neji and Sakura walked next to each other, their faces in almost identical scowls. Now would be a good time to start working on team strategies but the two had yet to talk to each other. Neji was still pondering over what Naruto had said earlier about Tenten being...squishy. It didn't help any that the image of her in shorts still hadn't left his mind. He kept telling himself that Tenten couldn't have possibly done such a thing with Naruto, she was of a higher class than that. However he could not doubt the fact that he could not detect the blond was lying at the time, but Neji never thought of attributing this to the fact he was too angry to at the time.

Sakura was in a similar state next to him. Tenten and Naruto's relationship had only existed for five weeks but she had already seen him with his shirt off! For some reason this bothered the bubblegum haired medic nin to no end. She simply couldn't get past the thought that Tenten was doing something with Naruto that she didn't like. Then there was the fact that she kissed him. Naruto wasn't supposed to kiss people! He just wasn't, if the first time it happened was any proof.

Gai stopped and the rest of the team complied. He nodded towards the trees, all five ninja jumped into them, continuing their journey by running. Not five minutes later they reached a rather large bandit camp. There had to be at least twenty five tents set up. There numerous men and women around in a circle holding several pointy objects at teenage girls were dancing. Each one had a glare on that was directed at the people around them; they must have been forced to perform. One of the girls fell out of step and was prodded lightly with a spear. She quickly regained her composure and resumed the dance.

Upon further inspection Naruto realized the girl who was pricked with the spear was the one who they were supposed to rescue. He slowly stood up, ready to jump into the camp but Gai's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"It is unwise to go into enemy territory without a plan Naruto"

"Gai-sensei they need our help and the enemy's only bandits!"

"When it becomes darker we will attack." Gai started jumping back from where they came, the rest of the team followed them. About two minutes later they stopped and made camp. Naruto huffed as he sat down, he was clearly not pleased with Gai's decision. His mood darkened even more when his current sensei told them building a fire would only show the bandits their location, so he was left ramenless. Naruto's face changed to surprise when Tenten dragged him off toward wherever, her hand on the back of his collar.

When they finally reached their destination Naruto looked up to see a disappointed Tenten.

"Are you going to be in this mood until we attack?"

"Maybe." He answered stubbornly

Tenten sighed "Naruto I thought you were more mature than this"

"I am! They needed our help but we just ran away. What if somebody gets killed?"

"We didn't run away, we left to plan. What would have happened if we just jumped in?"

"We would've saved everyone!"

Tenten glared at him. "Do you ever think before you act!? If we jumped in then those girls would have been even greater danger than if we waited!"

"How do you know that?!"

"Any of them could have been killed on the spot if the bandits were surprised enough! What about the one we're supposed to rescue? They could hold her hostage! Then we would have to give up. It places the whole group in danger Naruto."

Naruto shrunk away from her. She was right. He had just wanted to be the hero and hadn't thought about anything else. "Gomen Tenten"

"Being a ninja means thinking about the possibilities of every scenario. Every possible outcome that could happen, and then doing what's best for everyone. I think when we get back we should work on that."

"Work on it?"

"We'll talk about that later, let's just prepare for the mission"

"Hai"

"Can you make enough?"

Naruto looked insulted "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"I've only seen you use it once"

"Then stand back. Before I start, can you seal them all?"

It was Tenten's turn to be insulted "I seal hundreds of weapons away _every_ time I go on a mission, I think I can handle this."

"Let's see if you can"

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Back at the campsite Neji and Sakura had been staring off into wherever their other two teammates had gone. A few seconds later several 'poof' sounds were heard, then everything became silent. Seconds later Naruto strode in alongside Tenten, both looking happy with themselves. Gai didn't question it and neither did the other two as everyone waited until nightfall.

Naruto walked over to a nearby tree and took seat against it. Tenten walked over to the tree after him, then took a sitting position in his lap. Naruto opened his mouth to protest but Tenten's finger against his lips silenced him. She shook her head slowly, then laid her head back against his shoulder. Naruto didn't want to complain about her being there, it just seemed a little strange, but in a good way. He paid no mind to it as he rested his back against the tree, enjoying the others faces across the campsite.

Tenten had only intended to make the other two only more jealous, then get out of Naruto's lap in a few minutes. However, she found herself unable to do so as soon as she laid back. Tenten had a small blush on her cheeks, she knew people did this romantically but never thought it would feel so good. Naruto's warmth traveled to her, and hers went to him, it was entirely mutual. They were both relaxed and happy for the moment, even forgetting about the other two across the campsite for a few seconds.

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Five ninja made their way through the tree's heading toward the bandit campsite they had seen earlier. The journey back to it was shorter than the way there, and all were surprised when they arrived. In the middle of the campsite was a girl no older than fourteen tied to a wooden pole, beaten and bruised. Numerous bruises and cuts adorned her entire frame. Her skin was white as a sheet; her face lacked color. Several of the bandits surrounded her. The group surmised that the others must have been in their tents.

The team watched in horror as a female bandit walked forward with a whip in hand. She reeled her arm back and struck the girl hard, causing her to scream loudly. She repeated this action several times, talking after each one. Her voice was mostly drowned out by the girl's screaming, which increased with every blow, but the team could make out some of the words.

"Disobedient"

"Wretch"

"Worthless"

These were all heard from the woman who brandished the whip as may others cheered her on. One of the ninja in the trees shook in fury, his anger getting the best of him. The woman stopped her whipping, then someone handed her a sword in a scabbard. She slowly took it out, admiring it at first. She started speaking again, causing many around her to cheer even louder. The only word the could make out this time made the ninja who was previously shaking in anger to take off towards the camp. The other took off after him as well when they heard, it was enough to make them act.

"Death"

The woman raised the sword high, reading the killing blow. It never made contact though, what did make contact was a heel to her head as a brutal axe kick sent her towards the ground. The four other ninja landed around him in a four man protective pattern. The male ninja turned to the girl and cut her bonds allowing her to fall into his arms. She was weary as she looked at him, but he could see a small smile on her face.

"Arigatou" was only last word before her face fell on his shoulder

The team did not see the bandit with the long spear make his way into his circle and stab her savior in the back, along with the girl. Everyone in the ninja team froze watching their companion skewered, but relief flooded their faces as he disappeared in a poof and two logs replaced them.

Out not far away from the campsite the boy sat the girl down. Her face showed only gratefulness. She could hardly make out the boy through her blurred vision, but could see the bright orange and blond hair. She knew she was weak and about to pass out, but before she did she asked his name.

"Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki" was all she heard before she fell into a world of dreams.

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Tenten looked at the group around her, the plan had gone somewhat right. Naruto was supposed to be in the shadows and rescue all of the girls, but that had all gone to hell as soon as he jumped into the middle of the camp. Examining her surrounding though, she was somewhat grateful to him. It had been some time since she had a good fight, and she was looking forward to this. However, she had to make sure that her and Naruto's plan was fulfilled.

Tenten jumped up into the air and took out a scroll before twirling it, letting a good number of kunai to come out. All of the bandits ducked for cover but realized the kunai were nowhere near their them. Every single kunai landed in front of a different tent, planted in the ground. The bandits paid not attention to them as they turned back to the ninja, but Gai and Neji did pass her a confused glance. Tenten only smirked and pulled out another scroll, summoning some nunchaku. This was going to be fun.

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Naruto made his way to the first tent, he took a minute to look towards his teammates. From the sound of it they had already attacked. He smirked and continued on his way towards a tent that had enough noise coming from it to overcome the clanking of various weapons. Once near he could hear the talking coming from inside.

"No!"

"C''mere! Take it off!"

"No! Stay away from me!"

"I said c'mere!"

Naruto cut the tent open in the front but was not prepared for what he saw. A very grotesque looking man was hovered over the girl from the volcano village in nothing but his underwear. The girl looked absolutely terrified as the man pulled at her panties, which was the only thing she was wearing. She tried to push him away but he kept pulling at her them, they were slowly coming off.

Naruto couldn't process what was happening in front of him. He knew people had sex, but always assumed it was consensual. The entire concept of rape never crossed his mind. What kind of scum would ever force someone to consent to this? Naruto's rage boiled as he slowly made his way into the tent, kunai in hand. The kunai he had was driven into the back of the man's spine, who stopped moving instantaneously and fell to the side.

The girl picked her head up and saw Naruto who immediately turned his head away. She hurriedly pulled a blanket over herself and he turned back to her.

"Who are you?" Her voice was shaken

"A ninja from Konoha. My friends and I are getting you out of here"

"We have to get the other girls out too!" The girl said frantically

"Already on it. Get dressed so we can go" Naruto turned his head again.

"What's your name?" The girl asked while getting dressed

"Naruto Uzumaki, you?"

"Kyuuka Toshibara" Kyuuka tapped his shoulder, now dressed in some tattered skin tight black pants and a green shirt with no sleeves.

Naruto turned back around "Alright, let's go"

Naruto and Kyuuka continued their journey back towards where he left the first girl. On the way he received several more images in his head of the same thing happening to other girls. this confused him. He ignored them and focused on the task at hand, that way he could get back to the bandits and help his friends. When they finally arrived there were more girls there, but this was no surprise to Naruto. Tenten had done her job of getting his Kage bunshin close enough to the tents so that they wouldn't be drawn into the fight. All of the girls rushed over to him aside from the one he rescued first, she was laying against the tree, asleep. Naruto was swarmed and covered in hugs from everyone present.

"What happened to you?" one girl said

"You just disappeared!" another replied

"Are you okay?" a third asked

Naruto had to use a considerable amount of effort to disentangle himself from the group.

"I have to go help my friends"

"What about us?"

"You'll be safe" Naruto made another dozen kage bunshin which made the girls stare in awe, then he took off towards the fight.

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Tenten sent what must have been the tenth thug to the ground. She was having some fun, but she really needed a challenge. Another tried to make a downward slash toward her shoulder but she easily avoided it, then sent an end of the nunchaku hard into his face, causing him to collapse. She decided to switch it up, linking together her nunchaku to form a staff. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sakura, Gai, and Neji making easy work of their group. It was easy taking out these thugs, but they just kept coming. There weren't more than a hundred, but it was taking considerable effort to keep fighting. She assumed her sensei wasn't trying too hard seeing as he would have taken out three groups by now. He liked to let them fight their own fights, and only intervened if absolutely necessary.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a bandit stupid enough to approach her after she had seen ten of her comrades hit the ground. Tenten sighed and swung her staff upward, hitting the woman in the chin. Then she thrust it forward into her stomach. She hit the ground gasping for air. Tenten shook her head and got back into her fighting stance. She turned around just in time to block a sword that would have carved her in half, meeting the eyes of a man not much younger than Gai, She pushed his sword away then attempted to bash him in the side of the head but he easily blocked it. The weapon loving kunoichi smrked, finally a challenge. A blue ninja shoe collided with the man's head seconds later, he fell to the ground, knocked out.

"Hey Tenten, aren't you glad I came?" Naruto smiled at Tenten who only scowled. They stood back to back.

"Naruto he was mine!"

"They're only bandits Tenten, there's plenty of them"

Tenten looked behind her. There were about fifteen of them left. "I get everyone over there"

"But that's everyone!"

"Too bad, you knocked out the one I was fighting, go see if someone else needs help."

"Fine, but don't forget to use those kunai if you get into trouble"

Tenten nodded and Naruto took off towards Sakura. She walked towards the remaining people, gripping the staff tightly.

"Who wants to go first?"

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Sakura wasn't struggling against her group, but she was quickly tiring. She didn't have the endurance the others had, it was becoming harder to block the enemies attacks. She looked over to Gai and Neji who had only a few thugs left, but she had a least double their amount.

Sakura ducked a spear and blocked a sword coming from behind with her kunai. She saw another approach with a dagger but she had no time to block it. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain but it never came.

"Eh, Sakura-chan, could you open your eyes? I could use some help."

"Naruto?" Sakura opened her eyes. Naruto was blocking the dagger with a kunai and holding a spear by the wood that was above her head. If either of those attacks had hit she would have been done for.

"Hai" Naruto thrust with the kunai causing the thug to lose his grip and drop his dagger, then kicked the man hard in the stomach. Sakura let a vicious punch hit the person holding the spear, sending him five feet away, knocked out. The blond swung his now free right hand into the man hovering above Sakura with the sword, effectively knocking him out.

"Arigatou Naruto, but I don't know if I can keep this up."

"Alright then leave this to me. Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" Twice as many Naruto's as thugs poofed into existence. They charged at the bandits, beating and pummeling all of them. Sakura stood and watched as each one of them hit the ground, leaving one lone Naruto to stand in the middle of all the bodies. Gai, Neji, and Tenten had also finished their battles and were walking towards them.

"That was a nice warm up" Gai said. The other four only shook their heads.

"Now we have to get all the girls out of the camp. Let's hope none of them are in any danger"

"Already done Gai-sensei!" Naruto said with a smile, his hands behind his head.

Sakura gave him a confused look "But we were all fighting"

"Hai, but do remember when I missed with all those kunai?" Tenten asked. They all nodded.

"Those were Kage Bunshin!" Naruto talked excitedly " Me and Ten-chan thought it up earlier"

"The Kage Bunshin rescued all the girls, but we should make sure just in case." Tenten said

Gai's smile was the widest Naruto had ever seen "Naruto, Tenten, your flames are astounding! That's what I call teamwork." He gave them both a thumbs up

The group went from tent to tent and came across the same sight every time. A bandit sprawled out on the floor knocked out, with the exception of the one with a kunai buried in his back. When they arrived at that Sakura gave him a shocked look.

"Naruto, you did this?"

"I had to, the bastard was trying to force her into having sex"

Sakura seemed ill after hearing that. She looked at the man with disgust before they all turned and left. When the finally reached the hillside all of the girls rushed to Naruto, paying no mind to anyone else in the group. They all crowded around him much to the annoyance of Sakura, and surprisingly Tenten. Gai was able to get the girls to calm down, but they all still clung to Naruto, with the exception of Kyuuka who only stood by his side.

"What became of your villages?" Gai questioned. All of the girls' faces were downcast

"They were all destroyed" Kyuuka spoke up "With the exception of my village, I was kidnapped and held for a ransom."

Gai nodded. "And they contacted Konoha."

"My father is the leader of our small village. We are not the most prosperous village so I knew my father could not afford the ridiculous amount of money they asked for, but he could afford Konoha's help"

"We will all head back to Konoha, it will be a long journey because of the number of people. Sakura, Neji, you guard the front. Tenten and I will guard the back, while Naruto stays in the middle. Let's get back to the campsite and get some rest tonight, tomorrow we leave."

Everyone started moving but then noticed the girl who had been in trouble earlier still leaning up against the tree. Neji moved to assist her but she furiously shook her head and scooted as far as she could from him. Sakura tried but this had the same result. The girl looked from left to right with a scared expression on her face, then spoke silently.

"What was that?" Sakura asked

"Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki" She said again.

Sakura gave her a confused look, Naruto stepped forward and attempted to help her. She nodded slowly as Naruto kneeled before her and turned around, then all but threw herself into his back. Naruto almost fell over as she held him tightly, clinging to him as if he was the last thing she would ever touch. He stood easily and moved to the middle of the group. Naruto didn't miss Sakura's glare at the girl, or the strange look on Tenten's face that he couldn't place, but was oddly similar to Sakura's.

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**REVIEW!! CRITIQUE!!**


	5. Returning Home

**Hey Guys**

**Well here's my work, not IceCreamCloud's, but it still follows the general idea of the story.**

**Oh and to Fixing, thanks. I haven't gone back over all the chapters again but I re-rechecked chapters one through three. I know you probably stopped reading due to all the errors and I'm sorry for that. I'll try to be better in the future.**

**Here's your fifth chapter, sorry it took so long but as I said in my story, computer problems! Lucky I could get this one out. Other stories will be updated when I can. Hope you enjoy the next chapter of 'Cook For Me Ten-chan.'**

**Let's get started.**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, if I did then Tenten would have more screen time. :)**

The walk back to the campsite was filled with hushed whispers courteous of the girls. The were all crowded around Naruto asking him questions about Konoha. He answered as many as he could. It all went so fast that he didn't even realize that he accidentally promised to buy ramen for all the girls. When one reminded about it halfway back to the campsite he groaned inwardly. Gama-chan would be feeling a lot lighter when they returned to the village.

Neji walked at the front with Sakura. Both had ignored the hushed conversation between everyone on the journey back to the campsite. Neji was pondering over Naruto's and Tenten's teamwork. It was amazing that they had come up with something like that in only a few hours. He and Tenten didn't really have any team combinations despite how long they had been on the same squad. They just went with whatever worked at the time and it had always gone well. What Neji couldn't stop thinking about was that she had actually went through the trouble of making plans with Naruto rather than him, her own teammate.

Sakura was a little less than depressed. Naruto and Tenten had acted like they had been teamed up forever. The way they executed their plan was nothing less than flawless. She and Naruto had never had teamwork like that, but she never even bothered to try. Then came the fact that Naruto had once again saved her life because she didn't have the stamina to fend for herself. She needed to get stronger. Her thoughts were interrupted by the silent giggle one of the girls had let out behind her.

"Arigatou Naruto-kun. I'd like something to eat when we get back," The girl continued.

Tenten walked silently next to her sensei. She did her best to tune out the girls' talking and Naruto's replies. Gai smiled knowingly next to her, his eyes focused on the group in front of them. He nearly tripped after one of the girls came onto Naruto and passed Tenten a quick glance. Naruto obviously didn't catch the hint so Tenten didn't bother. He had just smiled and continued talking.

They reached the camp moments later and Naruto set up his sleeping bag. He turned his head upwards to see all the girls once again crowded around him. The one on his back has her chin nestled comfortably on his shoulder. Her even breathing told him she was still asleep. He set her down gently and she awakened as soon as she touched the ground. She looked at him curiously.

"We should get your injuries wrapped so they don't get infected," He told her. The girl nodded. He called Sakura over who was treating all the other girls.

"Sakura-chan can you look at her injuries?"

Sakura moved down to help the girl but she backed away and clutched onto Naruto. Her face changed into a scowl and she stood up."

It's okay! She's nice!" She slowly let him go but kept a watchful eye on him. Sakura started tending to her injuries while Naruto stood up. The girl nearly jumped at him again.

"I'm only going to the bathroom. I'll be right back." He took off into the woods.

Naruto felt a little more free as he bounded into the forest. He only went a little ways before pulling his pants down and doing his business. The girls were nice but they were crowding him, it was nice to get a little space.

"Are you finished?"

Naruto jumped and craned his neck to the side. Kyuuka was sitting on the ground with her back to him. Her long brown hair swayed a little as she sat. She shifted uncomfortably when she felt his gaze on her back. Naruto pulled his pants up and turned around.

"Couldn't this have waited?"

"Gomen ne. The other girls were crowding you and I couldn't get a word in."

Naruto walked over and sat next to her. She scooted a little towards him.

"It must have been important for you to come out here. What do you want?"

"I just...I never thanked you for saving me."

"Hm? Now that you mention it I guess you didn't."

Kyuuka chuckled from next to him "Arigatou"

Naruto gave her a nod in acceptance. "Is that all?"

"No, I also came to tell you about Kumi."

"Kumi?"

"The girl who was being beaten in the middle of the campsite."

Naruto's face hardened. "Why would they do that to her?"

"It's not her fault. Kumi just had no skill for what they were asking of her. She couldn't cook, couldn't dance, and she never wore a fake smile for them. She never lost her pride until they started beating her. Every time one of them grew angry for any reason they attacked her. She was hurt more than any of us."

"That's why she's like that?" Kyuuka nodded "So what do you want me to do?"

"Don't shun her. You're the only one aside from us that she trusts."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Arigatou."

Both were silent for a few minutes. Kyuuka shifted next to him but did nothing else.

"Does your village have ninja?" Naruto inquired.

"Hai, but there are not many. We specialize in katon jutsus."

"Really?! Can you teach me something?" Naruto said excitedly.

Kyuuka lowered her gaze to the ground and didn't answer him. She stayed like that until Naruto's initial excitement wore down and he asked her what was wrong.

"I...am not permitted to do any katon jutsu," She spoke quietly.

"What? Why not?"

"When I was younger I stole a look at one of my father's scrolls that contained jutsu. It was a simple jutsu that was used many times to light lanters. A small flame would come out of one's finger."

"What was it called?"

"Katon: Houkayubi no Jutsu. It was never intended to be used for combat. It's strength is not great. However, when I used it I almost burned down our home."

"Wow. You must be a really good with katon jutsu."

"That's the problem. My father says I have an unnatural affinity for katon jutsu."

"What's an affinity?"

"It's when your chakra tends to work better with different elements. Mine is katon."

"So why is that a bad thing?"

"My father doesn't mind but the rest of my village thinks I'm dangerous. They think it would be better if I didn't become a ninja at all."

"You can't control it?"

"I don't know how. Even small katon jutsu are dangerous for me to perform."

"Do you know how to control your chakra?"

Kyuuka shook her head. "But I don't think chakra control will help me much."

"You should still try."

A bush rustled to the left of them. Naruto and Kyuuka stood up to meet whoever would appear. Tenten walked out moments later looking tired. She walked over to Naruto and grabbed his collar. She then proceeded to drag him away, ignoring his protests. Kyuuka gave her a questioning look but Tenten ignored it and continued pulling Naruto. They returned to the campsite to see everyone's relieved faces.

"Where were you?" Sakura asked.

"I only went to use the bathroom!"

"For twenty minutes?"

"Naruto-san and I were talking. That's why it took so long."

"You followed him?" Sakura asked.

"Hai." Kyuuka responded.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but then decided against it. She walked over to her sleeping bag and got in, turning her back ot the others. Everyone else followed suit and found a place to sleep. Gai rested up against a tree because he had first watch tonight. The team had discussed it on the way to rescue the girls. The bandit camp wasn't too far and they needed to stay alert.

Naruto slipped into his bag on to feel another body slip in behind him. Kumi was huddled against his back, presumably asleep. It seemed none of the other had noticed so he chose to ignore it also. She was already asleep anyway. Naruto laid his head down and in seconds also fell into a light slumber.

* * *

"Naruto wake up. It's your turn," a voice whispered.

Naruto sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes. Sakura was standing over him with her hands on her hips. She did nothing except stare down at him and glance at the other person in his bag.

"Already? It only feels like a was asleep a few hours." Naruto rubbed his eyes again.

Sakura shuffled her feet "Actually it's about an hour before you have to get up."

"What!? Sakuraaaa-chaaan why did you-" Sakura ceased his whining by bopping him upside the head.

"Be quiet! You'll wake everyone up."

"Why did you wake me up early?"

"I...wanted to talk to you"

"About what?" Naruto stood up and got out of his bag.

"We should get away from the others first." Naruto gave her a strange look.

"So we don't wake them up baka!"

"Oh." Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously.

He shrugged and headed over to one of the vacant trees. Naruto took a seat and Sakura took up the empty position beside him. They were quiet for a few seconds until Naruto decided to break the silence.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Um, how is everything going?" Sakura was clearly avoiding what she really woke him up for.

"Sakuraaaa-chaaan couldn't this have waited until-" Sakura raised her fist again. He silenced himself instantly.

"No. that's not what I really wanted to talk about."

"What is it then?" Naruto was genuinely curious. What would she wake him up this early for?

"Why didn't you tell me about Tenten?" She asked timidly.

"Did you want to know?"

"No! I mean I wouldn't have minded if you told me but-"

"So what's the problem?"

"There is no problem!"

Both were silent for a few minutes. They merely listened to the night sounds.

"Do you have something against Ten-chan Sakura-chan?"

"No. It's just that I wouldn't have minded knowing. I thought you would have told me is all."

"Would you have told me if you were with someone?"

"If you asked."

"That's why I didn't tell you. You didn't ask me Sakura-chan so I didn't have a reason to say anything."

"What about us being friends?"

Naruto felt a little pang at the word 'friends', "We are. I'd tell you anything if you asked. I just thought you wouldn't care." Naruto stood up.

"I don't really, it just that-"

"It's okay to care Sakura-chan. If someone was with you I would feel the same way." He started walking back towards his bag.

"What do you mean the same way?"

Naruto only shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. Sakura was left staring at his back while he slid into his bag, thinking about what he had told her.

* * *

Nej stood up from his spot on the tree. He had been he last one on watch last night so it was his duty to wake everyone up. He walked from person to person, waking up the girls who they had rescued the day before. They all gave him the same reaction; glaring at being woken up, and then the glare intensifying because he was not a certain blond hero. He ignored them all and continued on towards his teammates. When he came upon Sakura he shook her gently. She roused from her slumber a few seconds later and thanked him. He moved on to Tenten.

"N...N..." she whispered in her sleep.

Neji stared at her for a moment, waiting for the rest of the word. In the five minutes he stood there it never came, but he didn't wake her. Most likely it was Naruto's name about to pass through her lips. He scowled and left to wake the others. A strange twinge of anger pushed it's way into his chest but he quickly destroyed it. There was nothing to be angry about. Tenten's business was none of his. He walked over toward his other teammates making sure it complete his duty before it became too late. Neji would leave it up to Naruto to wake her. If he would have stayed in the area a little longer he would have heard something unexpected.

"N-Neji-kun"

* * *

Everyone met in the middle of the campsite. Naruto rubbed his side softly from the not so gentle nudge Neji had given him to wake him up. Tenten passed him a confused glance but he only smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and turned to Gai when he started giving orders.

"Alright everyone, same formation as yesterday. We should reach the village in a few hours. If you want to talk keep it quiet; we haven't made much distance between us and the bandit camp."

Everyone nodded, then took their assigned roles and started walking back towards Konoha. Gai and Tenten seemed content with walking silently but Naruto was beginning to grow annoyed because of the silence. Even Sakura and Neji were being quiet. After the first ten minutes Naruto turned his head to face the girl on his back. After a closer inspection she looked roughly eleven with short brown hair that stopped at about neck length. Her eyes were a curious shade caramel.

"So...what's your name?" He whispered

Kumi raised her head from it's position on his shoulder. "Me?"

"Hai." Naruto smiled.

Her face took on a red tinge. "Kumi Subashi."

"That's a nice name."

"A-Arigatou, but should be be talking?"

"Hm? Why not?"

"The bandits-"

"Them? Don't worry about it, I'll protect you."

"You will?" Her blush intensified.

"Hai. How are you feeling?"

"A little better. I don't know what I'll do when we get to Konoha though." Kumi lowered her head.

"What do you mean?"

"I have no place to go when I get there. It's the same with everyone except Kyuuka."

"I'm sure Baa-chan will help with that. She'll figure something out to help everyone."

"How can she do that?"

"She's the Hokage."

"Oh. A-Are you going to be there Naruto?"

"Sure. I can't leave you alone with Baa-chan. She gets violent sometimes."

"V-Violent?" Kumi shrunk back against his shoulder.

"I mean only around me!" He corrected a little too loudly. Tenten shushed him from behind. "She's actually pretty nice."

"There are a lot of people in Konoha aren't there?"

"Hai. Are you afraid?"

Kumi nodded. "It's going to be a lot to take in. I had never been outside my village before it was destroyed."

"You'll be fine."

"Arigatou for being there Naruto. You're a really nice person." Kumi moved her face forward and kissed his cheek. She withdrew with a blush soon after and went quiet.

Naruto felt a blush rising in his cheeks. He forcefully suppressed it and focused on the view ahead, which happened to be Sakura's glare on a certain girl. He did his best to ignore it and the feeling of someone's eyes boring into his back.

* * *

Izumo and Kotetsu were surprised when the team walked through the gates. Gai flashed them his usual smile and kept walking, ignoring their shocked faces. What had the two surprised was the numerous girls crowding Konoha's most unpredictable ninja. The only things that were visible of Naruto were his blond hair and some glimpses of his orange jumpsuit, but they knew it was him. The group moved on toward the Hokage tower, still paying no attention to the faces of the two gate guards. They reached a crossroad moments later.

"Once again, great job everyone. Your flames were amazing! I look forward to future missions with you all. I must go see Tsunade-sama to give our mission report. You are free to go home."

Tenten, Neji, and Sakura all started down different paths. Naruto stayed put with Gai.

"Gai-sensei can I go with you?" He asked

Gai raised one of his eyebrows. "You don't want to go home?"

"I told Kumi I would come with her." He pointed to the girl on his back.

Gai nodded. Minutes later they were in the Hokage office staring at a very perplexed Hokage. She was having the same reaction as the two gate guards did earlier. All of the girls bowed respectably while Gai explained what happened on the mission. By the end of it Tsunade was rubbing her temples in an effort to ease her anger. How low would people stoop these days?

"I am sorry to hear of what happened to all of your homes." She started. "I hope you all will not mind taking up residency in Konoha."

The girls nodded gratefully.

"I trust you all get along well enough to share the same home."

"We do Hokage-sama." Kyuuka spoke up. " And we are grateful for your kindness. I still need to return to my village though."

"I've sent a messenger hawk to your village to let them know you are safe. The earliest we can arrange an escort mission will be in a week or two. We are still low on jounin."

"Arigatou Hokage-sama."

"As for everyone else, you will be living in an apartment complex not too far from Naruto's. I'm sure he knows where it is. I will provide the bare necessities to live off of but eventually you will have to fend for yourselves."

They all bowed and started filing outside.

"Naruto you stay here with Gai. I need to talk to you both."

A few hushed complaints from the girls were heard as they walked outside. Tsunade smiled.

"It seems that they are quite fond of you gaki. Especially the one who's asleep on your back."

Naruto turned to the sleeping Kumi. "I guess. What did you want Baa-chan?"

Tsunade looked at Gai. "How well did he and Tenten do on the mission?"

"They had excellent teamwork! It was amazing seeing that they only had a few hours to arrange a plan. Their joined flames burned brighter than any other genin team I have seen!"

"Is that so? Any complaints?"

Gai put his chin in his hand and thought for a moment. "Only one. It was when Naruto ran to help Sakura with her fight. I noticed that both attacks she was about to receive came very close before he was able to parry them."

"What's the problem then?"

"My student would have been able to stop them before they even made a move against her! My only complaint is that he moved a little too slow."

"Slow!? Gai-sensei I saved-"

"Yes you did Naruto, but a split second later and Sakura would have been fatally wounded."

"What do you suggest Gai?" Tsunade inquired.

"I have a few extra weights he could wear. It would help him achieve a higher speed level! Maybe in time he can be as fast as Lee!"

"Naruto are you okay with this?"

"Are you kidding!? This is great! Gai-sensei will you be training me!?" He said with a wide smile.

"Gomen Naruto, but I'm too busy with jounin missions. Train with Lee! I've taught him almost everything I know."

"Thanks Gai-sensei! When do I get the weights?"

"Meet Lee at the tenth training ground tomorrow. He will have them."

Naruto would have been jumping for joy if someone wasn't on his back. He smiled as he made his way out of the Hokage office with a piece of paper in his hand. The two adults smiled as they heard squealing beyond the door.

"I hope they don't boost his ego too much. Do you think they'll be able to handle a mission without a jounin sensei?"

"Tenten and Naruto?" Tsunade nodded. " They have excellent teamwork and should be able to handle anything B ranked or lower, but another genin on their team wouldn't hurt."

"Any suggestions?"

Gai smiled widely. "Only one."

* * *

"It looks like this is it," Naruto said as they neared an apartment building. The name on the piece of paper matched the sign. He had passed by this place many times before but never set foot inside it because it looked of a higher class than the other apartments. Higher class areas usually scorned him more than lower class, so he avoided them all together.

"Let's get inside; it's starting to get dark." Kyuuka spoke.

They all walked until they found the right apartment. It was unlocked already so they stepped in. Naruto hit the light beside the door and illuminated the room. They all stared in awe; the living room itself was big enough to accommodate at least seven people. They browsed the rest of the apartment separately. Several surprised squeals and sighs of wonder were heard from the girls. From what he could gather the place had two bedrooms and a rather large living room. The kitchen was small and was connected to the living room. One bathroom lined the hallway while the other was in the larger bedroom.

"It's so big!"

"Look at the bathroom!"

"There's already tatami mats laid out in the bedrooms!"

Naruto quietly slipped into one of the bedrooms and laid Kumi down on one of the Tatami mats. He then made his way back into the living room and fell flat on the floor. Something prodded his side and he opened his eyes. One of the girls sat staring at him with a curious expression.

"Are you alright Naruto-san?"

"Hai. I'm just a little tired."

"We were wondering," Several of the other girls had come to his side at this point, "If you would want to spend the rest of the day with us. I-If you don't have anything else to do." She added hastily.

"I don't think I have-" Naruto sat up in a flash as he remembered what day it was. Tenten was supposed to be cooking tonight, but would she be since they had just returned from a mission? If she didn't it would be going against Tsunade's request and they wouldn't receive any more missions, so she had to. If he wasn't there then he would also be breaking their agreement. He was up and at the door in a flash. Kyuuka stopped him by grabbing his arm as he was about to exit.

"Where are you going?"

"To Ten-chan's place. She's making dinner and I almost forgot. I have to go." He pulled a little.

"Can you tell us where your apartment is?" She let her head drop a little to hide the embarrassment on her face. "In case we need you."

Naruto quickly gave her directions and was almost out the door when he was grabbed again.

"Why are you going to her house?" Kyuuka questioned again.

Naruto sighed. "Because she's my girlfriend and she's making dinner! I have to be there!" He was surprised how easy he had said that. Kyuuka let his arm go.

"I'll be back tomorrow!" He yelled over his shoulder.

The Volcano village girl shut the door and walked back inside to relay this information to the other girls. She had a slight scowl on as she entered the last bedroom.

* * *

Naruto was out of breath as he reached Tenten's apartment. He knocked on the door hard, nearly breaking the thing down. Tenten answered the door seconds later with an irritated scowl on her face. Before Naruto could say anything she pulled him inside by his collar. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"I was about to give up waiting and go to sleep. What took you?"

"I kinda forgot." He said while scratching the back of his head.

"Forgot?" Tenten rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Just go sit in the kitchen."

Naruto complied. On his way he nearly tripped over a few kunai lying on the floor. Looking down at the things, he noticed one had a little blood on the side of it.

"Is this the Kunai you cut yourself on?"

"Hai. I haven't put it back in the trap yet," She said while taking things out of the tiny fridge.

"That's dangerous. I'll put it back."

"You don't know where it goes." Tenten put some water on the boil and took out some meat.

"Maybe the open spot on the wall?" Naruto said while smirking.

Tenten sighed "Go ahead. I'm not helping you if you hurt yourself."

So Naruto began the task of resetting the Kunai trap. He picked up the other two non bloodied kunai. The trap seemed easy enough. Three holes where the Kunai were supposed to go and a push back spring tied to a string. The string was probably tied to a floorboard if there was too much pressure on that board. He pushed the small objects back into their designated holes and then pushed that section of the wall back until he heard a small 'click'. Naruto turned around and headed back to the table, happy with his accomplishment.

"I told you it was easy."

"Come and eat dinner then."

Naruto sat down and looked at his plate. There were several noodles covered in a red sauce with tiny balls of meat on top. He poked at it curiously. It looked kind of like ramen since it had noodles, but everything else was different. The red sauce he had never seen before and who puts meat into balls? Tenten's audible growl across from him caused him to stop poking at his food. He picked up his utensils and slipped a little bit of everything into his mouth. Soon after he started downing the thing hungrily, taking exrta time to pick out the balls of meat. Tenten imitated him and finished before he did. She sat back with a smile on her face.

"Hah! I finished before you! That proves I can eat more ramen than you," She cheered.

Naruto sat up quickly. "This isn't ramen!" He pointed to his empty plate. "If it was it would be different! Besides I took time to pick out those little meat balls!"

"Whose fault is that? I still won."

"You didn't even say we were racing!"

"Stop yelling. You started eating fast from the start so I assumed it was a race."

"That's only because it was so good." Naruto huffed and turned his head away, completely missing Tenten's small blush. "What was that anyway?"

"Spaghetti with meatballs, and maybe I shouldn't try so hard next time then!"

"What did you try hard for?" Tenten opened her mouth but he kept talking. " And didn't you just tell me to stop yelling?"

Tenten turned her head away in a perfect imitation of Naruto. "Do you still want to bet who can eat more ramen?" She said, changing the subject.

"Do you still want to lose?"

"Stop that! Tomorrow. Ichiraku. Noon. Be there."

"What are we betting?"

Tenten smiled sheepishly. "I forgot about that."

"How about whoever wins has to do one thing the other says with no disagreements?" he asked.

'"Only if it's reasonable."

Naruto extended his hand, Tenten met him halfway. They shook hands for a few seconds until Tenten started looking at him suspiciously.

"You can let go now."

Naruto pulled his hand back and smiled. He had got caught up in how soft her hands were again. "Gomen. Tomorrow ne?"

"Hai."

Both sat in an awkward silence for a few moments. It was getting late in the day. He stood up to leave when Tenten murmured something.

"What was that?"

"About what that one girl did on the way back to the village. She kissed you didn't she?"

"Only on the cheek."

"But you did tell them we were together right?" She shifted nervously.

"I told Kyuuka. She'll probably tell everyone else. Why?"

"Because...Because what if Neji or Sakura ask them questions about our relationship? It would complicate things."

"Sakura-chan saw it but she only turned away. Neji would probably come to you about it first anyway; you're smart enough to come up with something. I'm going home now." He said while picking at his teeth.

"Alright. Don't forget tomorrow at Ichiraku."

"I'll be there." Naruto walked slowly down the stairs due to his stomach being filled to bursting. He made his way slowly home, not paying attention to anything the entire way. If he would have he would have spotted the small head of pink hair following him. He slowly walked up the stairs to his apartment, making sure not to rush and upset his stomach. When he finally reached the top of the stairs he started looking for what pocket he put his key in. There were so many of them that he forgot most of the time.

"Naruto?"

Naruto turned to the left to see emerald eyes staring back at him.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Can we go for a walk?"

* * *

**Don't you people love cliffhangers? I do!**

**Okay, hope I did a reasonable job of continuing this. For those of you that are worried that I will rush the pairing, I won't. There will be subtle hints but it won't happen until it needs to. Yes I know I did in my other stories, but that was when I wasn't as good as a writer as I am now. I have people's criticisms to thank for that.**

**Also for those preceptive readers, I did say in last chapter that Kumi was no older than fourteen and in this I stated that she was eleven. That fills both requirements so please don't come to me about the age thing. Also I stated that Sakura was helping tend to others injuries but Tsunade has just come back to Konoha in this story, so lets just say she had some bandages and gauze to help wrap up cuts as well as alcohol to clean them. She hasn't trained under Tsunade yet and doesn't know any medical ninjutsu.**

**Just a side note. This is Naru/ten. Sorry people but I'm following IceCreamCloud's direction and personally I think harems are ridiculous if it exceeds two people. Just wanted to clear that up for people who may have been confused after reading this chap. **

**Well, hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to...**

**REVIEW!! CRITIQUE!!**


	6. Contest

**Hey Guys**

**Yet another chapter posted of Cook For Me Ten-chan courtesy of the computers at my college! Yay!**

**A warning now. I hadn't really paid attention to the time line when I continued this story and I noticed some things were off. So, rather than spend another few days writing another chapter, I altered it in a tiny way. I completely understand if you stop reading, but this is still taking the same direction of IceCreamCloud's story. Since Tsunade has just returned Lee should still be recuperating. He has gotten off his crutches but is still unable to fight at his full potential in this story, whereas he was on crutches for quite a minute in the canon. Only a small detail and if readers want me to change it, I will. **

**Hope You Like.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any part of Naruto. If I did there would be a 'Dress in green jumpsuit day' in Konoha every year.**

"A walk?"

"Hai. Is now a good time?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and hobbled back down the stairs along with Sakura. She kept a level stare on him as they strolled the first few yards before both of them stopped at the exact same time, questions on both of their minds.

"Where are we going Sakura-chan?"

"Um...how about around the park?"

Naruto smiled and kept hobbling along but Sakura stayed in place. He stopped a few yards later after noticing his company was no longer with him.

"Eh, Sakura-chan. Shouldn't we keep walking if we want to get to the park?"

"Why are you walking like that?" she inquired.

"Oh, Ten-chan made dinner. It was really good."

Naruto took notice of the small twitch in her left eye as she passed him and continued the walk to the park. He shrugged and followed, glad he had received some sort of response. A few minutes later they reached their destination. Naruto took a seat on a nearby bench while Sakura remained standing next to it. He was starting to fall asleep because he was so full. Sakura knocked him over the head when she noticed his eyes were closed.

"Don't fall asleep!"

"Ite! I wasn't!"

"Your eyes were closed."

"I was just resting them! What did you want Sakura-chan? If this a date Ten-chan wont be happy if she finds out."

"It's not a date! I just wanted your help with something." Inside Sakura was yelling that she didn't care if Tenten thought it was a date. Naruto liked her first anyway.

"What?"

"You know Tsunade-sama right?"

"Hai. Why?"

"During the mission...I felt kind of useless. Everyone else carried their own load except me. If you weren't there I probably wouldn't have come back."

"You're not useless Sakura-chan! If you hadn't helped when I got there-"

"When you got there Naruto," Sakura interrupted. "If I was strong enough I wouldn't have had any trouble at all."

"We all have some trouble sometimes. No one is invincible, except me when I become Hokage. I'll be invincible."

"But what about me Naruto? You've got Jiraiya-sama teaching you and I'll know you'll be strong. Sasuke-kun is learning from Kakashi-sensei but I don't have anyone. How will I get stronger?"

Naruto scoffed. "Ero-sennin doesn't even really teach me. In the whole time I've known him he's only taught me one jutsu. I get stronger on my own."

"But still I think I can get stronger sooner if I have a teacher."

"And you want me to ask her."

"Hai."

Naruto was silent for a moment. He supposed it couldn't hurt and Tsunade would definitely be a more reliable sensei than his. Then again, the newly appointed Godaime did have a temper and he wasn't sure if she would be then best teacher for Sakura. He wracked his brain for a minute until he decided to go along with it. In the end his desire to help his teammate won out.

"I'll ask her Sakura-chan but be careful. Baa-chan drinks a lot."

Sakura smiled and threw her arms around the blond voicing her thanks. It was only a simple hug and Naruto returned it before she went on her way. It felt nice to finally get in that sort of range with the pink haired kunoichi without being hit for it and he savored the after effects, still lying down on the bench. Before he knew it his eyes closed and he fell asleep.

* * *

Tenten rolled out of bed and did a few stretches to start off the day. She went to the bathroom and did the normal procedure before stopping in the kitchen to look at the clock. It read ten in the morning, two hours before she was due at Ichiraku. The brunette browsed the fridge but then decided against eating this morning. She would need the extra room in her stomach if the photo of Naruto in the ramen stand was any proof. Today, she would show once again that there were no differences in strength between kunoichi and shinobi.

A knock sounded at the door in the middle of her mid-morning exercise. Tenten sighed at being interrupted. When competing one needed to be mentally and physically prepared and whoever was bothering her would get a kunai to the ass if they didn't have a good reason for it. She opened the door slowly and gasped when white eyes came into view.

"Neji?"

"Lee is at the tenth training ground. He wanted to know if you would train with us this morning."

Tenten stared at the usually stoic hyuuga for a moment. He seemed to be a little nervous, even though he was doing well at hiding it. She was overjoyed at the possibility that Lee hadn't even spoken to her hyuuga teammate and he was inviting her on his own. That meant the plan was moving along faster than usual. She expected it to at least be a week or two before he gave in. For now though, she had to act nonchalant about it. That would certainly get his attention later on.

"Now?"

Neji nodded.

"Gomen but...I have to go meet Naru-kun in a few hours."

"We need to better our teamwork Tenten. You can't train for a few minutes?"

Tenten bit her bottom lip. He was making it really hard to refuse but if she wanted everything to go according to plan, she had to turn him down. Meeting his eyes once more, she shook her head slowly, as if the very action took all her willpower to accomplish.

"Naru-kun likes it when I look nice for him. If I train I'll get all sweaty and I'll be too tired to meet him later."

"So you're putting him over the team?"

"It's not like that! I always asked if you wanted to train with me but you always turned me down! Can't I have a little time to spend with my boyfriend and we can train some other time?" Tenten snapped.

Neji seemed lost in in looking for an answer as he just stared. He sighed. "Gomen. If you want us we'll be at training ground ten." He jumped away as Tenten slammed the door.

She was frustrated. Since when was Neji worried about the team as a whole? Sure they trained from time to time but then he would always leave to go attend to some hyuuga matter or another. He expected her to cancel her plans because he wanted to train all of a sudden? Okay, maybe it was Lee who invited her along and Neji was just delivering the message. Still, did he expect the team to always come before her newly acquired relationship? She had more important things to do today than training.

"I have to go eat ramen for Kami's sake!"

Tenten repeated the sentence over in her head and realized how stupid it sounded. She sighed and headed out the door, locking it after getting on the other side. There was only one place the bun-headed brunette could go at a time like this and she was even dreading going there.

Minutes later she was at the main gate of the hyuuga compound. Tenten hadn't seen Hinata ever since they had returned from the mission and she was sure Neji had leaked hers and Naruto's relationship to the heiress. Probably in an effort to find out more about her relationship and seeing as Hinata was Tenten's closest female friend, he would have thought her to be a reliable source of information. However Hinata hadn't even known of the false relationship that Tenten had haphazardly leaped into, not thinking of any of the consequences. The hyuuga female was most likely inside inside now in a state worse than depression.

"Tenten-san?" A guard asked.

"Is Hinata-sama available?"

Tenten hated it but the guards insisted that she add the -sama suffix to Hinata's name while on the hyuuga grounds. Hinata dismissed the name when in company with her friends but could do nothing while at her home. An heiress was to be given the right amount of respect.

"She has been in her room for the last few days. Even Hiashi-sama has not been able to remove her."

"Mind if I give it a try?"

The guard shrugged his shoulders and allowed her in. Tenten was pretty well known around the compound because of her friendship with Hinata so she was able to go around most areas without being questioned. She followed the path to Hinata's room, arriving a few moments later and only standing there. Everything was quiet inside, which was normal. Hinata wasn't the loudest person she had ever come into contact with, unlike a certain annoying blond ninja. She sighed and knocked softly.

"H-Hai?"

"Hinata open the door."

An audible squeak came from the other side of the door, and then the sound of hardly contained sobs. Tenten had always been direct with her friend. Never to the point of being rude but instead using blunt statements in attempts to ease her out of her shyness. It was not frequent that Hinata would disobey an order from her which irritated her greatly. The only time Hinata really spoke her mind was when Tenten insulted Naruto in a conversation which always brought out the loudest side in the hyuuga heiress. Would she become that loud too if she continued to hang around Naruto?

The sobs became louder. Tenten sighed before taking out a kunai and thrusting it where the door handle was located. Many of the other rooms had slide open doors but since Hinata was on a higher peg than many other hyuuga she had a much larger room with a lock placed on the outside. After many failed attempts at breaking the lock the brunette succeeded and thrust open the door.

The bed was ruffled which struck the weapons throwing kunoichi as odd. Hinata had always kept her room neatly organized and always made sure no one saw it in a disorderly state. Several articles of clothing littered the floor that didn't even look like they belonged to the heiress. Tenten gingerly stepped over the several piles of clothing and to the bathroom door, which was also locked.

"Come out Hinata."

Silence.

"You didn't even give me a chance to explain."

"N-Neji-nii-san t-t-told m-me..." Her voice broke off.

"Neji doesn't know anything! Who will you believe? Neji or me?"

A short silence followed. Ever so slowly, the door opened and the hyuuga heiress stepped out. Her hair was disheveled and stuck out in random places. The jacket she normally wore was no where on her frame, showing off her undershirt and fishnet underneath. Her eyes were red and her nose was running slightly. If Naruto ever saw her like this he would never stop thinking she was weird like the heiress hoped he would one day. Hinata crossed her arms and put on her best attempt at being angry, which failed miserably. She could never be mad at the first friend she had ever had.

"Naruto and I aren't really together."

"W-Why d-did Neji-nii-san-"

"Because he doesn't know. You know how much I like Neji right?"

Hinata nodded her head. The weapons throwing kunoichi had told her on several different occasions of how much she would love to be together with her cousin. Tenten's crush on Neji almost rivaled Hinata's attraction to Naruto...almost.

"It's a long story. Maybe you should go take a shower or something before I start."

She sighed. Her friend had never been one to mince words. The heiress sent an angry glare, as angry as she could muster, toward her _friend _before heading back into the bathroom for a quick wash up. She emerged minutes later to find her room neatly arranged once again. Tenten sat on the edge of the bed, kicking her feet over the edge. She could never get over how big it was.

"Well?" Hinata asked in a surprisingly strong voice. Her red rimmed white eyes bore into the brunette, trying to detect any lie that she would tell. Tenten gulped began her story, hopeful it would pacify the hyuuga heiress. On the bright side she was glad to see her friend had finally grown some sort of a backbone. The blue haired girl listened intently the entire time though she let off no hints of what she was feeling. By the end Hinata slumped down to the ground with a loud sigh.

On one hand she was happy that Tenten and Naruto were not actually dating. It was only a ploy for Tenten to gain attention from the boy who she adored. On the other, she was hurt that her friend had not notified her of this first. Not to gain permission per se, but to make sure she was not hurt by their arrangement. Tenten had also not taken into account that by helping Naruto, she was inadvertently hurting her in more ways than one. When it was all over Naruto would have Sakura and Neji would be with Tenten, but where did that leave her? Sasuke? Hinata shuddered at the thought.

"Are you still mad at me?" Tenten asked.

Hinata shook her head. "T-Tenten, w-what happens when this is all o-over?"

"I'm with Neji and Naruto is...oh. I did tell you I would help you two get together."

"H-Hai. I-I don't think N-Naruto-kun will n-notice m-me. H-He still l-likes S-Sakura."

"So come to the ramen stand today and cheer him on! I'm sure he'll notice you."

"Ichiraku? Why?"

"You know about the stand too?"

"Naruto-kun a-always eats t-there."

Tenten scoffed. "He thinks he can eat more ramen than me. I'm going to knock some sense into him today."

Hinata stared at her friend, horrified. No one could eat more ramen than Naruto; She knew this herself from watching him eat. Every time he would throw some more ramen down his throat it would be digested faster than other people's systems managed to do the task. She had not figured out the reason why, or why he didn't immediately have to use the bathroom after but he never stopped. Eventually though, his digestive system would start to slow to that or a normal person and he would start to get full. At this point the stomach acids would not be able to keep their accelerated pace because of the constant ramen overload and would revert to their normal pace. In turn Naruto would become full and start eating a gradual pace until he stopped altogether.

"You can't beat Naruto-kun!"

Tenten was surprised by her friends outburst. "What do you mean I can't!? Hinata I beat boys all the time in things they think-"

Hinata held up her hand, instantly quieting her friend. She knew of Tenten's quest in life to prove males were not superior to females but this was taking it too far. Naruto must have been placed on earth by kami to eat ramen, she was sure of it. What else would explain the copious amounts he could throw down his gullet without being affected? It was a gift.

"When Naruto-kun eats...it just g-goes away. He doesn't get full unless he eats faster than his normal pace."

"So that's his weakness?" Tenten wouldn't admit it but she wasn't too confident about her ability to eat nearly sixty bowls of ramen. She was sure Naruto still hadn't eaten because of the contest today and was preparing.

"N-Not really. Even when Naruto-kun eats fast h-he can still eat almost forty five bowls."

Tenten groaned but then steeled her resolve. She would beat him today and nothing was going to stop her! She wasn't going to resort to trickery either, even if it did improve her odds by nearly twenty five percent. She stared at the clock near Hinata's door which read eleven fifty. It was almost time.

"I'm leaving now. If you want Naruto to notice you then let's go." Tenten ran out the door.

Hinata nodded and caught up to her friend. As they made their past the main gate the guard who had let Tenten in stared at her in shock after noticing who her running mate was. He smiled in a way that said 'thank you' and Tenten threw a thumb up in the air as she continued racing toward the ramen stand, Hinata on her heels.

* * *

Naruto rolled over, expecting to meet the wood floor that he always did when he rolled out of bed. Instead, he landed on the cold concrete below him that was a path in Konoha park. He jumped up and looked around, analyzing his surroundings.

_'I fell asleep in the park?'_

"What time is it?"

No one answered his question. The blond made a dash toward his apartment. When he arrived his vision swept toward the clock, which read a quarter past eleven. He only had a little over a half an hour to get to Ichiraku and he still had to go to the training grounds to get the weights from Lee. Naruto ran into the bathroom and hopped into the shower, ignoring the cold blast of water that first met him. He scrubbed furiously, making sure to get as much dirt off as he could in the shortest amount of time. He stepped out of the shower and realized that in the rush to wash himself he had forgotten a change of clothing. The blond threw on a towel, opened the door and made a beeline toward the dresser but was interrupted by a knock on his door. He growled lowly and threw open the thing, meeting thirteen identical blushes.

"N-Naruto-san?" Kyuuka asked.

"Hold on a minute."

Naruto shut the door and dug in his dresser. The red hues on the girls' faces hadn't faded a bit when he returned seconds later. The blond completely missed the blushes as he spoke to Kyuuka.

"Did you need something?"

"W-We wanted to know if you were doing anything today."

"I have to be at Ichiraku in about twenty minutes. Can you meet me there?"

All of the girls looked positively thrilled as they had identical thoughts of Naruto asking them on dates. He quickly gave them direction and rushed off toward the training ground Gai had told him to go to yesterday. Upon arriving he saw Neji in a heated spar with Lee. It looked as if the hyuuga prodigy was angry about something but Lee was enjoying the spar all the same. They both stopped when Naruto made his way closer.

"What are you here for?" Neji asked coldly.

"I'm here for fuzzy brows."

Lee nodded and motioned toward the tree. Four sets of weight were laid out around it. Naruto picked them up and judged their weight. They couldn't have been more than fifteen pounds which made him feel a little better. He had thought that Gai would start him off with something that would probably kill him in the long run and was glad the exuberant jounin had actually taken into consideration that he never trained with anything weighing him down. He strapped them on and moved around a little, testing them.

"Tenten told us she would be with you Naruto-kun. That is why she didn't not come to training this morning."

"She challenged me to a ramen eating contest today. I'm going to meet her now."

"Ramen eating?" Neji inquired.

"Yosh! I will cheer her on! Let's go!"

Before Naruto could protest Lee was already dragging him to Ichiraku with Neji following at a slow pace. When they finally arrived there were several girls, most of which Lee had never seen before, standing outside. The all rushed over to Naruto and pried him from Lee's grip, then dragged him inside the stand where Tenten was waiting near an empty seat. Neji took the seat to the left of her, much to her surprise, and Naruto took the right. Since there weren't enough seats in the stand to accommodate all the girls many of them settled for standing while Kyuuka and Kumi took the seats closest to Naruto.

"You brought all of them?" Tenten asked, her eyebrow twitching.

"They followed me. And what's wrong with them being here?"

Tenten didn't need to turn around to see the many glares she could feel on her. She sighed and motioned for Naruto to call for Teuchi, which he did. The ramen stand owner walked to the front and his eyes nearly bugged out when he saw of all the business Naruto had brought him. He was also aware of the close proximity between the unknown girls and Naruto, who didn't seem to mind at the moment.

"You've finally brought me some business Naruto! I was wondering how much longer you would be coming her alone. You brought your girlfriend too!"

The temperature in the stand noticeably lowered when that comment was made. Lee gave Naruto a questioning look and he shrugged it off, along with the feeling of Neji's glare beside him. Tenten also felt the glares on her back, only they were much stronger because there were more of them around. Why did the boy have to gain a fan club all of a sudden? A hand grasped hers in a comforting gesture, or at least what she assumed was comforting. Naruto stared at her for a moment before smiling, effectively ceasing all of the cold stares around them. He kept his hold as he turned back to Teuchi.

"Hai Hai. Anyway Ten-chan here-" He pointed to Tenten. "-thinks she can beat me in a ramen eating contest. So can we get it started?"

Teuchi stared at the girl as if she were crazy. He gave her a look as if to say 'It's your funeral' before going to the back for the stand to start preparing the ramen. He poked his head out a few seconds later.

"What about the other girls? Are they ordering?"

Naruto's other hand absentmindedly strayed toward the pocket where little gama-chan resided. He had made a promise so he couldn't just say no to them. Also not feeding them when they probably hadn't had much to eat already didn't seem right. He sighed and turned to Kyuuka since she seemed to be the leader of the group.

"I'll just have a bowl of miso." She turned to everyone else and began taking their orders. Naruto relayed the information to Teuchi and he went to the back to start preparing it.

"We'll start after everyone's done eating," He informed her.

Tenten nodded in agreement. "It would be best so that we don't have any distractions."

It was at this time that Naruto noticed that the seat next to Tenten wasn't empty as he had originally thought. The hyuuga heiress sat in it, twiddling her thumbs in a way Naruto thought was strange. He had come to accept her for what she did all the time though. Naruto simply thought that it was a Hinata thing to do.

"Hinata when did you get here?"

"I-I was h-here when y-you came i-in earlier N-Naruto-kun," she said.

"You came to watch me beat Tenten?"

Hinata's nod was hardly noticeable.

"Even Hinata takes my side! Ten-chan it would be alright if you want to quit now. I'll still like you."

"It doesn't matter if she is here for you. You better be ready to lose Naruto," Tenten responded while pinching one of his cheeks. "And I know you wouldn't stop liking me if I quit Naru-kun. That's one of the reasons why we're together."

Naruto melted into her touch. Tenten took pleasure in the many infuriated faces on the other girls occupying the stand. Naruto's audible purrs were making the jealous parties even angrier, but he couldn't help it. Her hand felt so good on his cheeks. Neji had turned his head after she had touched Naruto which made them both smile. Lee merely shrugged his shoulders and ordered a bowl of beef ramen.

After everyone wad been served and eaten a few minutes later Teuchi began making the bowls needed for the contest. Gama-chan hadn't been affected too much by the thirteen bowls of ramen since Naruto always bought more than that for just himself so he was happy for the moment. Now everyone sat waiting in anticipation for the competition to begin. Tenten had separated her hand from Naruto's earlier because it would most definitely be harder to eat with one hand. They both grabbed their utensils as Teuchi brought out the first bowls and set them in front of the two.

"Tenten! Show him how team nine's flame burns brightly!"

"Go Naruto-san!" All of the girls chorused.

"Naruto is fine!"

There was silence. The girls screamed once again.

"Go Naruto!"

Hinata's cheer was drowned out by the others but Naruto caught her glance and threw her a thankful look. The hyuuga heiress blushed. Neji merely nodded to Tenten which she took as some sort of encouragement as she waited for the starting signal. Her stare remained on Naruto until the same girl from yesterday, Kumi, moved around his shoulder and gave him another kiss on the cheek, claiming it was good luck. Tenten was so caught up in that tiny kiss that she missed the signal and only noticed after Naruto began scarfing down his first bowl. She eagerly followed.

About three minutes into the competition Naruto had already finished five bowls while Tenten was halfway through her fourth. He would normally be going faster but lifting fifteen pounds every time he raised an arm to his mouth made it rather difficult. Lee's yells were beginning to grate on Tenten's nerves but she had no time to tell him to shut his trap. Naruto's little fan club were also being loud, but their voices were being outclassed by Lee's loud outbursts about something concerning flames. Naruto put down his fifth bowl with a loud sigh and patted his stomach. Teuchi brought him his sixth bowl but he only stared at Tenten with a smile, taunting her.

That was where he made his first mistake. Tenten hurriedly downed her fourth and finished her fifth in the next thirty seconds that Naruto was busy staring at her. The blond quickly reached for his sixth bowl but realized it was gone, it now being devoured by the greedy brunette. He raised his hand for another but it took an additional twenty seconds for him to get it because Teuchi was still finishing up his batch. By the time he started on his sixth Tenten was already waiting on her seventh, which only took a few seconds.

Fifteen minutes later, the groups supporting their favorite eaters fell deathly silent. Tenten had stopped eating completely but Naruto was still munching away. The number was thirty two to thirty. If she wanted to keep the lead she needed to keep eating but she felt so full! How did she even down over thirty bowls of ramen anyway? The adrenaline must have been responsible but it was quickly wearing off. Meanwhile Naruto was nearing the end of his thirty first bowl. Everyone waited in anticipation for her to start again.

"You okay Ten-chan?"

Naruto's question surprised her. She turned in time to see him finish number thirty two.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you were okay. You look sick."

"I'm fine! Get back to the contest."

Naruto stared at her for a moment. "I don't know...I'm kinda full."

"Full?"

"Hai. I think I ate too fast. Truce?" He held out his hand.

Tenten analyzed the blond. He could most certainly win if he wanted to. All it would take would be one more bowl but she was uncertain as to why he was not eating it.

"Who wins?" She asked.

"Both of us I guess."

Tenten switched her gaze from Naruto's hand to the full ramen bowl in front of her that made her want to heave. With a sigh she shook his hand and ended the contest, not at all happy that it had ended in a draw.

"Yosh! What friendship! What camaraderie! I will join in this contest next time! You will not beat me Naruto-kun!"

Naruto chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind fuzzy brows. I have to go see Baa-chan now."

"Don't forget we have dinner tomorrow Naru-kun." Tenten said in a voice that lacked the sweetness that it had earlier. He nodded.

Naruto dropped enough money to cover his eating expenses and started walking off toward the Hokage tower. The girls followed closely behind him, Kyuuka on his left. He had failed to notice Kumi had stayed behind with the other two girls. Neji went to resume his training with Lee and the two kunoichi stayed because Tenten hadn't completely digested her food. Hinata could tell her friend was seething beside her because of the win she received. She never like to be pitied because of her sex and Hinata was fearing what Naruto would undergo at the scheduled dinner tomorrow. For now she was happy that her crush had gotten away unscathed.

Kumi sat away from the two talking to Teuchi excitedly about something.

* * *

"Baa-chan!"

Naruto burst through the Hokage doors as he always did. Tsunade stopped herself from pummeling the boy right then. He always manage to do some sort of damage when he came around and she was growing tired of it. She caught sight of the other people behind the doors as he closed it, leaving them both alone.

"What do you need gaki?"

"Train Sakura-chan."

"What?"

"Train Sakura-chan. She needs a teacher and Kakashi-sensei is never around."

"That's because I'm always sending him on missions. If you think Kakashi is busy then why would you ask the current Hokage? I should be the busiest ninja in the village."

"But you don't do anything! What do you think will happen to Sakura-chan if no one teaches her?"

Tsunade pondered it for a moment. The blond did have a point but she was much too busy with the sudden appearance of Itachi Uchiha, the S-ranked missing nin. The thing that made it even more troubling was the fact that he was with another equally ranked ninja, Hoshigake Kisame. She was much too busy right now to train anyone, but she knew someone else who had a little free time. Plus it would relieve her of the nagging for a while.

"I will find someone to train Sakura. Tell her to come to my office early tomorrow morning to meet her temporary sensei."

"Really? It means a lot Baa-chan."

"For now, I need to you to take this to hospital room two twenty three." Tsunade handed him a Konoha headband. "Sakura left it in my office this morning."

Naruto studied the headband before realizing who's it was. He smiled widely and nearly ran out the door toward the hospital, nearly leaving all the girls behind on his run. When he finally reached the door he stopped, waiting for everyone else to catch up. When Kyuuka came jogging up to him with the other girls he put his finger to his mouth in a 'shh' motion and cracked open the door. Sakura was sitting on the side of hospital bed, preventing everyone from seeing who was in it. He slowly walked around to the front with the others, smiling again at seeing how his friend was feeling. Even though he was being more aloof than usual.

"Teme."

Sasuke said nothing because of the recent events that taken place. After a few minutes he felt a chill run up his spine and looked up. Thirteen girls ranging in different ages were all staring at him. Not with the adoration he usually received, but with curious glares. How did Naruto always find ways to annoy the hell out of him? To always press his buttons?

The fan girl club was his thing. How had Naruto taken that away from him too?

* * *

**Yea not one of my strongest endings and this chapter didn't really have a lot of action. Mostly little hints of fluff.**

**Guess what people? About halfway through this I realized something. Sasuke is still in Konoha! Wow. Letting you all know now, I haven't ever written Sasuke before and I fear that I will utterly fail when I try it next chapter. It's just that he's kinda a hard character for me to nail down. My issues, not the character's issues. I have no problem with Sasuke.**

**Anyway I did change the time line a little for those who want to comment on how Rock Lee is already healed. I'm sorry but I wrote in the parts about Lee and then realized one thing. He couldn't do all of those things handicapped. So, that will be the only thing I plan on changing. I know the chapter was probably lacking but I'll make up for it next time. Still having computer problems so I put out what I could.**

**REVIEW!! CRTIIQUE!!**


	7. To A Head

**Hey Guys**

**Yeah! Getting back on the ball! Hopefully updates will be coming faster now since I only have two stories to work on and my laptop is fixed. Sorry for the wait, but school called.**

**Anyway the first chapter of 'Cook For Me Ten-chan' in a long time! Woo! **

**Warning: Little bit of fluff ahead, and a not too great fight scene. **

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any part of Naruto. If I did I'd probably accidentally run it into the ground.**

Sasuke was lost in looking for a reason as to why Naruto suddenly gained a fan club. He was positive they were Naruto's with the way they were switching their gazes from the blond to him, the looks changing from adoration to anger. Naruto had received those same looks back at the academy when they had started their first argument, only now it was the other way around. He turned his eyes back down his body under the covers. Memories of the last few months ran through his mind and with each one his anger only grew.

_'You don't interest me at the moment.'_

The young uchiha clenched his fists. The beating he had received from his older brother a few weeks prior was still fresh in his mind. Even worse than those were the refreshed memories of his family being slaughtered right before his eyes, courtesy of Tsukiyomi. A rhythmic cutting sound permeated his thoughts but he paid it little attention, his mind now focused on the mission in tea country. He had failed to defeat that Aoi when he was targeting Idate. Failed to protect his team, but somehow Naruto had succeeded. He couldn't even remember anything after being struck with the raijin blade. The next thing he saw was Sakura's face when he woke up, and the remains of the blade that put him out of commission. Broken in half, it had laid at the edge of the canyon. When he asked, Sakura said had she didn't know how it happened, but she knew who did it.

_'The rumors were true. The last of the Uchiha clan is also the weakest.'_

Naruto.

How the blond managed to do it Sasuke had no idea. Of all the scenarios that ran through his head, none of them explained how Naruto accomplished such a feat. If his Chidori couldn't break through the sword, then that certified one thing that he had been dreading ever since he woke up.

Naruto knew a technique stronger than the Chidori.

The rhythmic cutting once again interrupted his thoughts, louder than last time. He turned to the left to see Naruto on the ground, a large bump starting to form on his forehead. The other girls in the room were all glaring at Sakura and cradling him, though it didn't really help because there were so many of them. So many...

_'Naruto is the prize that the Akatsuki are after.'_

Kage bunshin. His mind flashed back to the fight with Gaara where Naruto had summoned more than a thousand of them. Once again, a fight that he utterly failed in and the blond didn't. How was anyone capable of doing that without dying from chakra exhaustion immediately afterward?. At that time, the thousand kage bunshin summon seemed to be the best jutsu the blond could pull out. Though, for the umpteenth time, Naruto had surprised the last uchiha by summoning a giant toad. Upon further investigation, and pressing Kakashi for information, he had found out that it wasn't just any toad. The boss toad, Gamabunta, who only the legendary sannin Jiraiya, the Yondaime, and now Naruto had been able to summon.

_'You're still too weak.'_

Was that how it was going to be? Naruto progressing faster than he could ever hope to. Him, the class prodigy, rookie of the year, being left in the dust by the last of the class? He couldn't live with that. How would he avenge his clan? How would he rebuild it? No one would care for the Uchiha if they lacked the strength they were fabled to have.

The cutting stopped but as it left a new sound came, Sakura's voice. He couldn't even understand what she said as she held the sliced apple up to him. All the pent up anger and frustration came to a head as he smacked the treat out of her hand, startling everyone in the room. A slice hit Naruto in the head, causing the blond to jump up in surprise.

"What happened?" He turned to meet Sasuke's cold stare. Naruto unknowing stare only made the young uchiha's anger grow.

"Fight me, right now," Sasuke nearly whispered.

"Huh? You're crazy. You just got treated by Tsunade-baa-chan."

"I don't care! You shouldn't have brought the fifth into this!" Sasuke's sharingan activated, startling his two teammates.

"What you say!"

Sasuke jumped out of the hospital bed. He stood face to face with Naruto, arrogance clear on his features.

"You said you wanted to fight me right? I said I'd fight you here and now. What's wrong, you scared?"

Naruto stared in his friend's eyes for a moment. The usual competitiveness that was there whenever they challenged each other was absent. It was replaced by something he couldn't understand. Going on assumtion alone, it seemed to be uncertainty. Sasuke had never been uncertain. Their eyes remained locked, both not hearing Sakura's pleas to stop the fight that was about to begin.

"Fine. I was just thinking how much I wanted to kick your butt."

"Follow me." Sasuke turned his head toward the other girls who were in the way of the door. "Move."

They hesitantly parted as the young Uchiha made his way past them, crushing an apple slice on his way out. Sakura's eyes widened but she said nothing else. Naruto was right behind him, walking past the worried members of his new fan club. Kyuuka tried to voice her opinion but a look from Naruto silenced her.

"Go home."

The blond continued his walk out the door. They ascended the stairway, slowly, as if both were somewhat reluctant to get there. The rooftop was much bigger than Naruto would have guessed. The only hindrance that could affect their fight were the blankets everywhere. Both shinobi stood across from each other, waiting for the first to begin the attack. Despite the small bit of apprehension in the air, Naruto let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny!"

"Nothing. I'm just excited. I think I can finally beat you."

"What?" Sasuke ground out. "Cut the nonsense you dropout!"

"I won't be a dropout forever."

The raven haired boy's eyes creased even further. Some of the flashbacks from earlier still in his mind. "You...You dumbass! Why the hell are you so full of yourself!"

Naruto let out another laugh. "You're talking more than usual. Could it be that you're scared to even though you picked the fight Sasuke?"

Sakura arrived at the roof to see the boys immersed in a conversation already. Her calm was quickly interrupted as she felt the hostility in the air. This would be no normal spar. The bubblegum haired kunoichi thought of interrupting it, but how would she go about doing that? She also doubted Sasuke would be happy with her if she did. Instead, she chose to only jump in if it became too violent. That or go get a sensei.

Sasuke's grin was back. It gave Naruto a slight chill. "Whatever, let's get started."

Naruto tossed him the item in his hand."Put on your forehead protector first. I'll wait."

Sasuke stared at the thing a moment before throwing it to the ground. "I won't need it."

"I don't care! Put it on!"

The onyx eyed boy's grin faded for a moment. Irritation crossed his features so quickly Naruto thought he was seeing things. He brought a thumb to his head. "You won't be able to even put a scratch on my forehead."

"That's not what I meant! This forehead protector means we fight equally as Konoha shinobi!"

"That's what I mean when I say you're full of yourself! You think you and I are equals?"

"We are! I never thought myself as any lower than you!"

"You're an eyesore!"

"That's because you're still weak, Sasuke-chan!"

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

Both boys dashed toward each other, each throwing a punch. The young genin intercepted the blows, coming to a stalemate. In that second Naruto could see the anger present behind the uchiha's eyes and was sure Sasuke could see the same. Sasuke attempted to throw a kick but Naruto quickly caught it, throwing the raven haired boy off balance. The blond swung Sasuke around by his leg, fully intending to throw him into the gate. Sasuke quickly saw this and spun skillfully during the throw. He sent a kick into Naruto's jaw that knocked him back some distance.

Naruto quickly recovered and dashed toward the other boy. Sasuke caught Naruto's oncoming punch by the arm and threw him over his shoulder. The blond landed on his feet but had no time to recuperate as Sasuke came forward with several fast punches, the last of which knocked him into a nearby blanket. Sasuke ran over to finish the job, however there was nothing under the sheet when he snatched it up. He gasped and immediately his sharingan began scanning the area for any signs of his foe. A blanket rustling prompted the uchiha to jump into the air where his eyes were temporary blinded by a glare.

Naruto took the opportunity to jump at his foe and land punch to his cheek. Sasuke flipped backwards until his feet were planted firmly on the gate. He hopped back with his fist ready.

"Don't get so overconfident!" Sasuke yelled.

The blond took the blow fully. He fell toward the ground and quickly started running through the many blankets that lined the rooftop. Sasuke was right beside him. The raven haired boy threw a punch and a kick the sent Naruto flying toward the gate. He hit it hard, his sight obscured by the sheet that fell over his head. Sasuke was quick to take the advantage, picking the blond up and punching him repeatedly. Sakura's almost inaudible gasps went unnoticed by Sasuke as he continued to pound Naruto until he was thrown off by a kick.

"Cut it out already!" The blond screamed.

They both jumped into the air, trading blows until the ground began approaching again. Naruto and Sasuke backed off from each other for a second. The effects of the fight were clear on both of them seeing as their breathing was labored. Naruto's fingers crossed in a seal that caused his foe's eyes to widen.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!"

Sasuke was surrounded by clones before he could stop the jutsu. He peered around, waiting for the first attack. One clone came at him from behind, signaling for the others to do so. The uchiha threw a backwards kick toward the first clone, dispelling it instantly. His feet circled around the next and threw it into three others after. Sasuke dodged a punch from another and destroyed it with an uppercut. Before he could act fast enough a clone hopped on his back and brought three others with it. He threw the clone on his back into its copies causing them to dispel in a large cloud of smoke.

Sharingan still active, he flipped on his hands and feet. His kicks and punches destroyed many clones before he was catapulted in the air by three kicks to his front. Thankful that he had recognized the move the Naruto was using, Sasuke made quick hand seals close to his front. Naruto sent a brutal ax kick down but it was blocked by the uchiha's elbow while his hands were in the last seal.

_'Tiger seal_?' Naruto thought.

"Katon, Goukokyu No Jutsu!"

The flames that spewed for from Sasuke's mouth covered the rooftop. Sakura had to take a step back as all the blankets were instantly incinerated. The was no sign of Naruto and for a second the raven haired boy thought he had won. The fire began moving in a spiral until it vanished and revealed Naruto's standing form. The clone beside him disappeared in a puff of smoke and left behind a blue spiral hovering above the originals hand. Sasuke studied the ball for a minute before he realized he couldn't copy it because he had seen no hand seals.

_'That must be the jutsu! Alright then..."_

The sharingan user brought his hand down and began forming chakra in his hand as well. Outside at the bottom floor of the hospital Kyuuka and the others were only able to see what looked like lightning forming in Sasuke's hand. She raced back into the hospital, worried for Naruto's sake.

"Stop..." Sakura whispered in desperation. It was much too late to go bring someone to stop the fight. She was at a loss in what to do.

"I will win!" Naruto shouted.

"Don't be so confident!" Sasuke yelled back.

"Stop it, you two..."

Naruto charged with his Rasengan ready. Sasuke also flew toward his opponent, his Chidori lined up with the other jutsu.

"Stop it!"

Both boys were too focused on each other at first to see Sakura run out into the fray. About halfway through their attacks they saw a pink head of hair coming closer but were unable to stop their jutsu.

_'Too late!' _Sasuke thought.

_'Sakura-chan!' _

Two hands grabbed their wrists before the attacks could collide and threw both of them. Naruto hit a water tower on the right while Sasuke hit the same on the left side. Kakashi sighed as he stared at his two students who were about to kill each other. If he hadn't arrived in time one of them would most certainly be dead. Sakura was quiet at his side, probably still shocked at what took place.

"What do you two think you're doing?" He asked.

_'More importantly, was that jutsu what I thought it was Naruto?'_

Neither said a word. Sasuke was struggling to pull his arm from the hole in the tower while Naruto was slowly getting up across from him. Once Sasuke managed to pull his hand out he surveyed the damage done to both towers. He smirked when he saw that Naruto's hole paled in comparison to his.

"Were you really planning to kill him Sasuke?" Kakashi asked from above.

Sasuke directed a glare toward his teacher but said nothing else. Across from them, Naruto's mind was filled with the possibilities of what could have happened had Kakashi not arrived. Sakura could have died from those jutsu. He looked up to see his sensei reprimanding Sasuke.

_'Probably for being such a jerk.'_

Naruto watched Sasuke back flip over the gate and leave. He sighed as Kakashi made his way over to Sakura and then left a few seconds later. He had to apologize, but if he did Sakura would probably end up getting in the way again. He slowly made his way over to her.

"Sakura-chan..."

"Hm? What is is Naruto?"

"This is our fight. Stay out of it."

He walked away, ignoring her widened eyes. About halfway down the stairs his eyes met Kyuuka's. She was sitting on the bottom of the stairs. Her concerned gaze made him feel a little guilty inside.

"I'm fine,' he said.

"I saw lightning in his hand. Are you sure you're okay?" The other girls were beginning to ascend the stairway.

"I said I'm fine." He brushed past them. "I need some time to think. See you tomorrow."

* * *

"A-Are you f-feeling better?"

"Hai. Kami I never thought ramen would be so heavy on my stomach." Tenten prodded her stomach with one finger, angry at the little bit of pudge that was beginning to form.

"I told you that you couldn't beat Naruto-kun," Hinata said.

Tenten's fists balled at her sides. If there was one thing she hated, it was being pitied because of her sex. Even if it wasn't because she was a girl, pity in general was unwelcome. When she got a hold of him, he was going to regret it. Maybe letting him walk blindfolded into her apartment after she set up a few more traps. Nothing fatal, just a few shuriken and maybe some senbon. Tenten was brought out of her thought by Hinata's voice.

"D-Don't be mad at Naruto-kun. He was just worried about you."

"I don't care! If I wanted a draw I would've asked for one! Who does he think he is!"

"T-Tenten..."

"When I get a hold of him..."

"But..."

Tenten growled. She took a deep breath to calm himself. "Hinata...find him for me."

"W-What? You're not going to-"

"I won't hurt him. I just want to talk. Don't you want to see him again?"

"I-I do but-"

"Then go ahead! I'm sure he wants to thank you for your support during the ramen contest."

That single thought destroyed any suspicions about Tenten that Hinata may have had. She immediately activated her byakugan and scanned the general area. Eventually she came across a lone boy sitting on a roof about a mile away. She pointed in the general direction and Tenten took off. Hinata was right behind her, eager to see Naruto once again. When Tenten caught sight of him she slowed down to the point of stopping. The conflicted look of his face made her rethink confronting him for a brief second. She jumped, with some difficulty, up to the top and landed next to him. Hinata decided to stay on the street and wait for Tenten to bring him down. He paid her no attention when she cleared her throat, which only angered her more.

"I thought we didn't have dinner until tomorrow," Naruto said, still not looking at her.

"This isn't about dinner. You should have beat me earlier!"

Naruto's gaze still remained on the oncoming sunset. "Can you come back later? I have a lot on my mind.'

Tenten nearly growled. "Like what?"

Naruto lowered his head. Tenten had a feeling she crossed the line.

"I...almost hurt Sakura-chan really bad today and Sasuke's...different."

Tenten took a step back in shock. "You almost hurt her? How?"

"She...can we talk about this some other time?"

"No. Come with me." Tenten grabbed his collar and began dragging him to her apartment. Naruto began wondering how long it would be before she would stretch out all of his shirts by doing this. From down below, Hinata began to wonder how long it would be before her friend and crush came down from the rooftop.

* * *

It had been plaguing her ever since the day that he had told her to keep it a secret. Why he never wanted Naruto to know she didn't understand, since the boy couldn't do anything about it anyway. Sakura stood on her balcony, remembering every time the curse mark had harmed the boy she adored. She had promised not to tell Naruto, but what choice was she left with? After today, he seemed like the only person who could help or provide her with some comfort over what was happening. Sasuke was different, and now her blond teammate knew too.

Now Naruto was changing too. Since when didn't he want her to be involved in anything? Naruto, who constantly fawned over her and practically did all he could to impress her. Sure she had nearly gotten herself killed earlier today but she still didn't expect him to exclude her from what was happening. She was left with the choice of telling him and betraying Sasuke's trust or staying silent and out of the loop. Sakura honestly didn't know what to do.

She supposed she owed it to Naruto after all he had done for her. When Sasuke told her that the blond had actually been the one to save her from Gaara, her first reaction had been disbelief. Though when he asserted the point again, she had nothing else to say. She still hadn't thanked Naruto to this day.

Then came Sasuke. He clearly had a lot going on in his life and had been through so much for someone his age. After Naruto had told her of his reunion with his brother, she knew that he would be dangling by an even thinner thread now. The curse mark was already drawing him toward Orochimaru. Wouldn't it only be a matter of time before it took hold of him completely? Was she just supposed to stand by, let him leave, and not betray his trust? Through all her logical thinking, Sakura was left with only one answer.

The bubblegum haired girl stood up and left her balcony. When she arrived at Naruto's apartment there were no lights on. After receiving no answer from ringing the doorbell she started making her way to Ichiraku. Ayame said she hadn't seen him since much earlier when he was with Tenten. Naruto always came to Ichiraku at least three times a day when he wasn't out on missions. That left Sakura with only one place left to go. With a sigh, she started heading in the direction opposite of Ichiraku.

* * *

Naruto sat down softly on the bed as Tenten walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. She returned with two cups of something a few minutes later and pushed one into his open hand. The blond took it gingerly, not even considering taking a sip of the beverage.

"You know I'm still mad at you," Tenten informed him.

Naruto shrugged causing the brunette to sigh."I don't-"

"We'll talk about that later," Tenten interrupted. "How did you almost hurt Sakura?"

Naruto told her the story from beginning to end. He even told her of how his and Sasuke's rivalry was. It felt a little better to say it rather than keep it bottled up inside but he was still feeling terrible about earlier. His best friend refusing to acknowledge him and almost killing Sakura was a heavy load on the young shinobi.

"It's not your fault. She shouldn't have got in the way of your spar," Tenten tried to comfort him.

Naruto sighed. "I knew it wasn't just a regular spar. I got this chill when we were about to fight. I should have stopped it there."

Tenten laid back on the bed with a huff. "I still say it's her fault. There's nothing you can do now anyway."

"If Sakura-chan would have been hurt...I don't know what I would have done. And teme wants to act-"

"Stop complaining." Tenten pushed him off the bed from his position next to her. He fell and spilled his drink on the floor.

"What was that for!"

"I told you, stop complaining," She stated nonchalantly. "Go apologize to her or something and then talk to Sasuke. There's gotta be some reason he's acting like such an ass. Brooding over this won't get anything done."

Naruto sat there for a moment. The drink was beginning to soak through his pants but he paid it no mind. After a few seconds he stood up an smiled down on her. Tenten stared at him for a moment in utter confusion before he enveloped her in a hug.

"Thanks Tenten."

"Hey-"

A knocking on the door interrupted whatever the brunette was about to say. They both looked at it before Tenten stood and went to answer it. Sakura was smiling at the her when she answered the door, holding it partway open so that she could not see Naruto on the bed.

"Hey Tenten. Have you seen Naruto?"

"We're talking right now," Tenten replied, a hand on her hip.

"Oh. Can you give me a few minutes to talk to him though? It's really important."

"I'm talking to him about something important right now. It'll have to wait."

"Just talking?" Sakura questioned, clearly unconvinced.

Tenten scowled at the minor insinuation. "Hai, just talking. Also, what I do with my boyfriend is none of your business Sakura."

Sakura frowned and turned around. If Naruto was too busy with Tenten she'd have to just try and save Sasuke herself, like she always had. "Just tell him to meet me at Ichiraku in half an hour."

"I'll see if he can make it."

Tenten slammed the door, silencing any other words the pinkette may have had to say. Naruto stared at her curiously but she only shook her head. Since when did Sakura get so annoying? The brunette hardly said anything to the girl and she already grated on her nerves.

"Who was it?"

"Sakura. She wanted to talk to you about something."

Naruto was up and halfway to the door before he stopped himself. He turned back and locked gazes with an unsurprised Tenten.

"You're not going?" She asked.

"Well...didn't you want to talk to me about something?"

"Hai, but it doesn't have to be now. I just wanted to yell at you a little," Tenten explained.

Naruto seemed torn between going after Sakura or staying with the weapon throwing kunoichi. In the end he turned around and smiled. He took a seat next to her on the bed and waited for the yelling to begin but Tenten just sat there, dumbfounded.

"You're staying?"

"Hai. I figure Sakura-chan will be at home tomorrow and Sasuke-teme isn't gong anywhere. If you want to yell at me I might as well get it over with and who knows, you might end up cooking after. I'm still kinda hungry."

Despite the mild shock, Tenten managed to form a smile. "If I'm cooking you're helping since it's not a day I'm supposed to."

"I guess. I'm not good at that stuff though."

The brunette grabbed his hand and began dragging him into the kitchen. "You're going to learn today. Burn anything and I'll use you for target practice."

Naruto gulped. "But it's my first day!"

"Too bad. Let's take out the ingredients."

They rummaged through the cabinets and pulled out some rice, a few spices, a couple pieces of thick meat, and a few vegetables. Naruto looked so lost in looking for what to start with first. Tenten decided to lead by example, grabbing a knife and beginning to chop up a tomato. Naruto followed suit but his tomato slices were much thicker. Tenten passed Naruto a bowl of rice and kept her own. She took out two pans and started the fire underneath her own. It took the blond a couple of tries but eventually he had his started as well. The brunette pulled out two pots and filled them with water then returned to the stove.

Over the next thirty minutes Tenten boiled the meat to soften it, stir fired the rice, seasoned the meat, cut it into small pieces, cooked it, added sauce and finally had a neat little bowl that was her meal for dinner. Naruto boiled the meat so long it became dry, nearly burnt the rice, forgot to season the meat, cut large chunks, undercooked it, and added way too much soy sauce on top of his dinner. However, that didn't stop him from enjoying his as much as Tenten was enjoying hers. They ate in the usual noisy fashion before sitting back in their chairs in a comfortable silence.

"I think mine probably tasted better," Naruto said.

"Are you crazy? It looked like someone stepped in mud and then rubbed it in your food. I thought you would throw up after eating it."

Naruto laughed and Tenten joined him. They both settled into another silence.

"Why are you an orphan?" Tenten asked out of the blue.

Naruto's head lowered for a second. Tenten was about to apologize but he sat straight up with the same smile as always. "I honestly can't even remember my parents. The third never told me who they were. What about you?"

"My parents died when I was only nine months old. The landlord at the orphanage told me that it was because the kyuubi attacked and they were called out to help. I can't remember their faces or anything. It just makes me feel lonely sometimes you know?"

Naruto's smile vanished and his face took on a somber look. He swore that he could hear cackling in the back of his head. "I know, and I'm sorry that your parents died."

"It's okay. Gai-sensei and the rest of team nine became like my family."

Naruto smiled. "It's the same with me and team seven. Iruka-sensei was my first friend but they've all become like family to me."

The quiet between the two this time was awkward. Tenten felt she had to break it.

"Naruto...have you thought about dating someone else besides Sakura?" Tenten asked.

"Someone else? I never really thought about it. There weren't a lot of girls that were interesting in the academy."

"So you've never had a girlfriend before?"

Naruto shook his head. "What about you?"

"Me?" Naruto nodded. "Well...no. I've been too busy-"

"Watching Neji," Naruto interrupted, still smiling.

"Hey! It's the same thing for you with Sakura-_chan_." Tenten drawled.

Naruto chuckled. "I guess it is."

"Maybe we should look for other people. Just to keep our options open," Tenten suggested.

"Nah. No one else would be interested in me."

"What about all those girls we just rescued?"

"What about them?"

Tenten started giggling. "Nothing."

"So you're going to look for someone else besides Neji?"

Tenten shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still interested in him and I don't think anyone else would like me anyway. I don't come from any clans and I only use weapons so most shinobi don't even look my way."

"I think someone would if you just looked a little harder. You're prettier than most girls in our age group and more skilled than them too," Naruto stated nonchalantly.

Tenten blushed. "Well what about you? I've heard how you took down that sand guy that messed Lee up and Sasuke couldn't even do that during the exams."

"I...it's not easy to find people that like me. I used to be a prankster," Naruto explained.

"Oh." Tenten didn't press it any further. She figured he didn't have a great past. Naruto started chuckling as soon as she finished her sentence and then began laughing quietly to himself. The brunette prodded him with a finger to make him stop but he didn't, which brought on her own laughter.

"I forgot," Naruto said when he finished.

"Forgot what?"

"We're already dating other people," he answered.

It took Tenten a second to realize what he was talking about. She smiled. "Hai, we are. He's turning out to be a pretty okay boyfriend so far too.

"Same for her," he replied.

They smiled at each other for a brief moment before Naruto's hand made it's way slowly across the table, eventually grasping hers. Tenten didn't refuse the gesture, she squeezed his hand in a comforting manner. The sound of the doorbell ringing separated the two and brought them out of their dream like state. The brunette quickly stood up, making sure to keep down her blush, and went to the door again. Sakura stood behind it looking more irritated than earlier.

"It's been an hour and I haven't seen Naruto. Do you know where he is?" Sakura asked.

"He left," Tenten said without thinking. "I don't know where he is."

Sakura gave her a suspicious look. "Are you sure?"

"Hai. Good luck." Tenten shut the door before Sakura could look into her apartment. She turned back to Naruto.

"Who was that?" The blond questioned.

"Uh...Lee," Tenten lied, taking her place across from him. "He wanted to know if we were training tomorrow. So...it's getting late."

"Hai. I guess I should be-"

"You can stay here if you want." The brunette said quickly. "I-I mean, I have a sleeping bag in the closet."

"Really? You don't mind?"

"It's alright. We sleep in the same place on missions all the time. What's the difference?"

"As long as you're okay with it."

"I am. Let me get it out."

It took Tenten a full five minutes to get the bag out. Partly because she was nervous about having him stay over and partly because she had to disable the five traps next to the closet. When she finally pulled the thing out Naruto stood up to help her set it down next to the bed. It was a pretty big bag and could house two people if need be. She noticed the blond huff as he sat back down, tired for some reason.

"You okay?"

"Hai. Bushy brows gave me some weights and I just felt the strain from all day right now. It's not a lot, but I'm a little tired."

"Lie down then. Sitting up won't help."

"I know. I think I'm getting used to them though.

"You should still rest. I'm going to go put on my pajamas," Tenten said.

Naruto nodded as she left for the bathroom. He had no pajamas to wear so he would be going in his t-shirt and boxers tonight. Hopefully Tenten wouldn't mind because sleeping in his jumpsuit just wasn't comfortable most of the time. She returned two minutes later dressed in some dark green pajama bottoms and a matching top. Naruto had already undressed and was lying in the bag with only his torso exposed.

"So...I'll see you in the morning?" Tenten giggled.

Naruto laughed too. "Hai. I'll make breakfast ramen!"

Tenten's face turned slightly green. "I'll make breakfast. You can help."

"Aw but Ten-chan I think I could do a good job." Naruto pouted.

"No. I don't want to die as a result of food poisoning. If you keep whining I won't even let you help."

Naruto mock sighed. "Alright, but I get to make something."

"As long as I don't have to eat it," Tenten quipped.

That was the last laugh of the night for both of them. Tenten remained quiet from above him, lying on the edge of the bed. Naruto's eyes were on the ceiling for quite a while, not daring to look to his left at the girl next to him. It wasn't until ten minutes later that the brunette's hand started making the short journey, slowly, down to the bottom of the bed. She was surprised when she came upon another hand halfway. Naruto turned his gaze to her and she to his, both smiling simultaneously. Tenten heaved a deep sigh and closed her eyes. Naruto took a little longer to shut his, but only because of the angelic face he was too busy staring at not too far away.

* * *

**Yes! This took approximately two weeks to write! It normally only takes a couple days.**

**I'm out of shape.**

**Anyway I hope you all enjoyed. Next chap will probably be Sasuke retrieval but I'll only write the fights if you guys want me to. I mean, the other fights, not the Naruto Sasuke fight. Don't really see a point to since the other characters are really centric to the story, but it's your call.**

**Review/Critique**


	8. From The Home Front

**Hey Guys,**

**Man I hate fight scenes, but I think I'm getting somewhat, if in a minuscule way, better.**

**Though this chap doesn't really have a lot of that. Just some Naru/Ten and a slightly different ending on the Sasuke retrieval mission. Hope you like.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the clothes on my back, the bucket in my garage, and this fanfic. **

Naruto sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his right hand. He couldn't remember the last time he got such a good night's rest. The blond attempted to rub the underside of his nose with his left but resistance on it prevented the action. He swept his vision downward to his hand to find it entwined with another, more feminine one. It took a second to recall last night's events, at which point he turned to the brunette sleeping peacefully next to him. She was leaning partway off of the bed so that their hands would stay within each others grasp. Naruto stared at the joined appendages one more time before slowly standing up, putting his pants back on, and walking to the kitchen.

The first thing he looked at when he entered was the clock which read seven forty-five. He had never awoken so early and been well rested at the same time. Tenten's floor must be more comforting than his bed. The blond debated with himself on whether or not to start cooking. He didn't want to burn anything and if he did Tenten would most definitely not be happy about it. Though he had never burned ramen, so that's probably what he would start with. He found a few instant ramen cups in the cupboard and started boiling a pot of water.

Tenten shifted under the covers, pulling her hand back inside to recover some of the lost warmth. The brunette nearly growled upon realizing that she couldn't get back to sleep after the first five minutes because she was already well rested. She slowly sat up and yawned as she stretched, causing the bottom of her button up shirt to rise a little. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before slowly sliding out of the bed and walking into the kitchen. Tenten was startled when she came upon Naruto without his jumpsuit top, only in the bottoms. He was currently watching a pot of ramen boil on the stove with an intensity she had never seen in his eyes before.

"I thought I told you I would be cooking," she said, hands on her hips. Naruto jumped, almost knocking over the pot of boiling water. He smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, a gesture the brunette found oddly cute.

"I was hungry and I wanted to surprise you," Naruto explained. His eyes subconsciously wandered over her green clad frame. He thought it odd that she would pick a pajama color that her exuberant teammate and sensei loved so much.

Tenten walked over and bumped him playfully so that he would no longer be in front of the stove. She turned off the fire so that she could pick up the pot, who's contents soon found their way inside of the garbage bin. Naruto watched in shock. Had she just wasted perfectly good ramen?

"What'd you do that for?"

"I told you I would be cooking. No ramen either. I can't even look at another bowl of the stuff without feeling sick."

Naruto sighed. "So what are we making for breakfast?"

Tenten cocked an eyebrow. "We?"

"You said I could help," Naruto pointed out.

"I did, ddn't I? Okay, let's get started on the pancake batter then. Remember, same rule as yesterday."

"Hai Hai. Let's get started."

Tenten brought several eggs out of the small refrigerator along with the flower and butter. Naruto watched her closely as she assembled more ingredients and divided them all in half so that he had his own. He attempted to follow her exactly but it was his first time, so he made his share of mistakes. In the end though, he only had a little less thickness to his batter in comparison to Tenten's. She gave him a nod of acceptance upon viewing his soon to be meal and took two pans from the cabinets. From there the two began frying their breakfasts. When they were finished the brunette took time to evaluate his food. She had to admit that it wasn't half bad. Though they were a little undercooked they were still edible.

"I'm surprised you didn't burn them," she told him.

Naruto smiled. "I'm a fast learner. Now let's eat!"

Tenten agreed. They were soon seated at the table where the brunette began chomping down her three large pancakes whereas Naruto was working on a stack of seven or eight smaller dough pieces. About halfway through the meal Tenten's foot accidentally made contact with Naruto's, which prompted the blond to kick her back softly. The brunette smiled, still facing her plate, and continued the game. It was some time before the two noticed their food was beginning to get cold at which point they stopped their innocent game of footsie to return to their meals, blushes present on each one's features.

Naruto cleaned his plate first so he was the first to enter the bathroom for a shower. Tenten waited patiently until the shower water stopped, her gaze drawn to the hand that had held the blond's the night before. She hadn't thought about what they were doing or the consequences of the minuscule intimate gesture they shared last night. It shouldn't matter that they held hands all night, she was only trying to comfort him. The bathroom door opened to reveal a fresh Naruto still in the same clothes as yesterday, minus the jacket. Tenten took time to marvel at the small outline of his muscles through his shirt.

"Thanks for letting me use your shower. I never get a lot of hot water back at my place."

"Really? Maybe you should look into moving out."

Naruto shrugged. He never really thought about it. "Maybe. I don't think I could afford rent anywhere else though."

"We're going on more missions remember? Of course you'll be able to afford it," Tenten reminded him.

The blond took on a thoughtful expression. "I probably could. Maybe I'll see after a few missions."

Tenten shrugged, her pajama top slipping a little off her shoulder. She stood up to shower, but not before throwing Naruto a death glare at the door. He ignored it even though he knew what it meant and sat on the bed. Not five minutes later a knock resonated throughout the apartment. The blond approached the door a little hesitantly since it wasn't his apartment but eventually answered it. Shikamaru stood behind it, an annoyed yet surprised expression on his face. Kiba, Choji, and Neji, with his byakugan activated, were not far behind him.

"Naruto, we've been looking for you. So troublesome,' He put a hand to his forehead.

"Why?"

"Sasuke left the village."

"What!" Naruto's fists clenched in anger. "That jerk! When I get him back-"

"There's no time for that," Shikamaru interrupted. "Hokage-sama wants us to leave in thirty minutes after we see her."

"Just give me a minute to get ready!"

"Where's Tenten?" Neji's question startled the others in the group.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and said nothing else as he started backing into the apartment, closing the door soon after. Neji's eyes, byakugan still active, gazed behind the door until he could see clearly. The other boys were confused at the red that filled their friend's face as he fell three steps backward and quickly turned his head.

Inside, Naruto tore through the kitchen looking for his jacket. It took him a few minutes to realize that he left it in the bathroom that Tenten was now occupying. He knocked on the door softly with his head turned to be respectful of her privacy. Tenten cracked the door open slowly a few seconds later, her eye narrowing in irritation. When she noticed Naruto's head turned the other way she decided it was okay to show a little more of her head and peeked outside, towel around her frame.

"Did you need something?" Tenten asked.

"I left my jacket inside and I have to go."

Tenten seemed saddened at the idea of Naruto leaving. "Why?"

"Sasuke-teme left the village and I think Baa-chan wants us to go bring him back."

"What? Let me finish up and come with you."

"Just meet us at the tower when you get out but hurry up. We leave in thirty minutes."

"Okay. Let me get your jacket."

Tenten turned around and grabbed the orange piece of clothing off the bathroom floor. She was glad that the blond had turned his head and saved them both some embarrassment from him seeing her half naked. She handed it to him.

"Naruto, you can look. I-I mean, I'm behind the door." Tenten mentally chided herself for how she put her sentence together.

The blond was facing away as he put on the piece of clothing. He turned back around as soon as he finished, his eyes meeting those of the brunette.

"I'll see you at the to-" He stopped with his mouth open. Tenten's face turned a deep red, thinking that he had seen something. Her body was concealed though, so she didn't know what he was staring at. His eyes seemed to be leveled on her head but she couldn't figure out why.

"W-What?" She asked, still unnerved by his gaze.

"Your hair...It's really pretty. I-I mean it's longer than I thought and pretty and..." Naruto was at a loss for words. He turned on his heel and started toward the door while Tenten's cheeks gained an even darker tinge.

"I'll see you at the tower!" He called over his shoulder as he left, locking the door on his way out.

As soon as he was gone Tenten closed the bathroom door and set her back against it. She slid down slowly until she sat on the floor, now staring at the ceiling. He thought her hair was pretty? Did that mean he thought she was pretty too? Even though he did say she was prettier than most girls in their age group she had assumed that he was only trying to be nice. The brunette never expected him to compliment her on her features. She quickly got on her feet, went to the bathroom mirror and wiped the fog on the surface. Tenten didn't have low self esteem but she never tried to be pretty for anyone. She smoothed her hair over for a minute, wondering what was so interesting about the small strands. The brunette snapped out of her daze and jumped back into the shower, hoping to get there before they left.

* * *

Tsunade was currently at her desk, fuming. She was doing her best to control herself but the fact that Sasuke Uchiha, only one genin, managed to leave Konoha without anyone noticing caused her temper to flare. She had just begun to feel pride for this village again and then something like this happens? How did one genin managed to evade a dozens of sentries that line every gate of the village? It was true that they had a jounin shortage but there was no reason for people to just slip by their defenses, whether it be inside or out. She raised her head to see the five genin that Shikamaru had collected and Sakura to their left.

"As you all know, Sasuke Uchiha left the village late last night. It is thought that Sasuke may have had accomplices from Oto, but we are unsure. You five are responsible for retrieving him," Tsunade explained.

"How long ago did he leave, Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru inquired.

"I'm not certain. Sakura says that it was late last night when she attempted to stop Sasuke, but she was incapacitated. We found her early this morning near one of the entrances to the village."

"He knocked out Sakura-chan?" Naruto was getting even angrier at his teammate. He turned to the pink haired nin but she didn't meet his eyes.

"Hai. Apparently there was no one in the vicinity to help Sakura stop him." Tsunade's brow creased.

That single statement from Tsunade put Naruto on a different train of thought. Had it been his fault that Sasuke left the village, solely because he was not there to help his teammate restrain him? If he hadn't have stayed with Tenten last night, they might have been able to stop him together. The blond clenched his fists. Guilt hit him like hard and he heard nothing of the rest of the conversation. He only turned when everyone else did and started heading out of the office.

"Sakura." Tsunade's voice rang out "You stay here. This is their mission, not yours."

"But Tsunade-sama-"

"You stay here! This is not your mission. Everyone else except Naruto, get going. He'll meet you at the gates."

Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji all left the Godaime's office. Naruto remained standing, his view still fixed on the ground. Tsunade stood up and started to leave the room, knowing the younger kunoichi would want to say something to the blond before he departed. She had expressed her desire to be apart of this mission repeatedly in front of the Godaime earlier, but Tsunade knew she wouldn't have functioned well with the team and only been a burden. This was the least she could do.

"You have five minutes. After that Naruto, you must catch up with your team. There is to be no one else on this mission except those I have assigned. Anyone that tries will become a missing nin and will be tried as such if they return." Tsunade left, ignoring the younger kunoichi's tears. She had to head out to a few gates to make sure security was tightened up to her standards. The Godaime left out the double doors to the lobby and turned right, completely missing the small head of brunette hair that was coming from the other way.

"Naruto...I-I know I haven't been-" Sakura started, tears falling down her face.

"No Sakura-chan, it's my fault." He interrupted. "If I would have just gone with you last night instead of staying with Tenten...Sasuke might still be here."

Sakura's tears hadn't stopped. If anything they began to fall at a faster rate. "B-But if I was stronger...I know I could have stopped him, or at least slowed him down. G-Gomen. If You can...please...brings him back. Please bring Sasuke-kun back..." The pink haired kunoichi's tears were now falling rapidly down her face. Naruto acted on impulse, wrapping his arms around her slowly, despite the feeling inside that was telling him not to. Sakura stopped after a few seconds and opted to stand in the embrace, her sadness slowly dissipating. Naruto pulled away and held her at arms length before giving her a smile.

"I'll bring the teme back Sakura-chan. Then we'll both kick his ass for even thinking of leaving us. It a promise."

Realization danced behind the pink haired nin's eyes for a second. She stood still while Naruto walked around her, shutting the door behind him on the way out. Outside, Naruto stopped and gaped at the sight that greeted him. She was in her usual attire except her hair was now down. It hung about shoulder level. He couldn't understand the sad expression that was on her face or why she was avoiding meeting his eyes with her own.

"Tenten?"

She shuffled her feet. "Do you...regret staying last night?"

Naruto stood stock still. He didn't have answer for her question. At least not at the moment.

"I...I have to go."

He ran all the way to the bottom floor. The blond didn't even know if she was following him or not but he couldn't worry about that right now. He continued toward the gates, determination and a little uncertainty clear on his features.

* * *

Tenten's legs were rooted to the lobby floor and her gaze still plastered on the door. She hadn't really felt like tying her hair up and convinced herself that she wouldn't have had the time which was why it was down. It hadn't been to see his reaction or to cheer him up because of the minute amount of sadness she could detect in him as he left. Her mind was telling her to chase after him and demand an answer to the question she had impulsively asked, but once again, her legs resisted. She was finally successful in taking a step toward the exit when a voice stopped her.

"We can't follow him."

Sakura.

"Why not?" Tenten retorted.

Sakura dipped her head. "Tsunade-sama said anyone who tries will be treated as a missing nin. It's just like leaving the village."

"Like Sasuke did?" Tenten snapped.

Sakura was taken aback. "H-Hai, but Naruto made me a promise. He never breaks his promises and once Sasuke-kun gets back we'll work something out."

"Is that really what you think! He's a missing nin now! What if he's with other nin and Naruto gets hurt? What then? All because of a stupid promise. Naruto isn't strong enough to take on the world!" Tenten growled and punched the wall nearest to her. She knew he was impulsive and he would do anything for the girl in front of her. They had never even had time to go over tactical strategies like she planned after the last mission and now she was regretting it. All because of that stupid contest.

"Naruto won't die! He's never let me down," Sakura insisted through her tear stained face.

"I know he hasn't! It's idiotic things like this that get people killed. What if he comes up against an A rank ninja that's guarding Sasuke and he's by himself? He'll run in, regardless of the circumstances because he thinks he can do anything! Argh!" Tenten punched the wall again. Her hair bounced around her shoulders. Sakura stayed silent across from her.

"Who else went?" Tenten demanded.

"N-Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji." Sakura stuttered out.

A small wave of relief hit Tenten. She knew Neji was a person who kept a level head and preferred to have a plan before going into battle. From what she remembered during the chuunin exams, Shikamaru wasn't an idiot either. She only hoped they could keep him in line so that he didn't end up getting killed. She turned away from Sakura and all but ran toward her apartment. When the brunette arrived she quickly assembled several scrolls full of weapons and left to look for the Godaime.

It nearly took an hour but eventually she found Tsunade barking orders at guards at the north gate. Tenten slowly approached her and waited for the yelling to stop so that she would not have to speak over the older woman. When the Godaime finally turned around with a somewhat satisfied look on her face Tenten took the chance to gain her attention.

"Hokage-sama."

"Hm? What do you need Tenten? I'm very busy."

"I want to go on the mission you sent Naruto on."

"No. I already assembled a team and they've already left. My decision is final."

Tenten's shoulders sagged a little. "But what about Naruto? He's impulsive and headstrong not to mention-"

"I know, Tenten." Tsunade's features softened a little. "I know what he is, but he's a very capable ninja. I recommended him to Shikamaru when he left my office this morning. He's been alright on missions without you so far, one more isn't going to kill him. He's far too stubborn."

Tenten felt somewhat better but still wasn't entirely satisfied. "Alright, but if you decide to send backup please let me be the first to know."

"I'll think about it.'

While it was not an answer that Tenten was happy with, she knew she couldn't do anything else in her situation. She turned on her heel and left to the direction of her favorite training ground. When the brunette arrived she began unsealing weapons and throwing them into the various stumps that inhabited the area. She was still worried, but the conversation with Tsunade had calmed her a little. Naruto would be okay. He beat Neji in the chuunin exams and even the suna nin that had threatened the village. She knew he was strong, but that didn't stop the bubble of worry that refused to pop in the base of her stomach.

* * *

Night was coming soon. The sun had already begun to set and yet Tenten's words still hadn't left her mind. Sakura would never say she didn't care for Naruto, he was like an annoying brother to her. It was true that he never went back on his word when he promised something to her, but he always ended up getting hurt in the process. Would this be the last time it happened? Could Naruto...die?

The pink haired nin shook her head furiously. She didn't want to think of those type of things. Since the meeting in the office that morning, she realized Naruto understood her more than she gave him credit for. Sakura made a note to thank him when he returned for everything that he had already done for her. That was if he came back...

"No! Naruto's coming back!" Sakura yelled. Her voice echoed off the walls in her room. Even the sound of her voice coming back to her didn't reassure the pinkette. She left her house to head to the Hokage tower to see if Tsunade had heard anything about her blond teammate. When she arrived the Godaime was working on stamping various papers. Tsunade's looked up and stopped her stamping.

"There hasn't been any word on the mission yet Sakura, but now seems like the best time to talk to you about something that has been on my mind. Naruto approached me a yesterday and demanded that I train you. Did you have any part in this?"

Sakura shuffled her feet. "I asked Naruto to talk to you about it because he knows you better than I do. If you don't want to-" Tsunade silenced her with a wave of her hand.

"Right now, I don't have the time. However, Shizune will teach you in the basics of medical ninjutsu and I will take over when I do. Be warned, Shizune can be even more demanding than I can sometimes. Go find her in the hospital. I've already talked it over with her."

Sakura bowed nearly ran out of the hospital. She had to force herself to focus on training and not her two teammates. Naruto would be alright and he would bring back Sasuke-kun, she was sure. The pink haired nin took a deep breath as she opened the double doors to the hospital.

* * *

Tenten turned over what had to be the thousandth time that night. The brunette turned her head to look at the clock and groaned. Make it that morning. She hadn't realized how much time had passed since since she got into bed. It was nearly six in the morning and she still hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. The sleeping bag lay next to her bed, obviously empty. Tenten's gaze had switched to the thing on and off the entire night. She was still worried about him.

With a sigh she got out of bed and walked into the kitchen where she had a lonely breakfast. Naruto hadn't been over her apartment that much and she had never shared breakfast with anyone before him. She missed meeting someone in the morning though, or maybe just missed seeing him in the morning. Tenten left that thought alone as she made her way to the bathroom. After a long shower she started tying up her hair when a 'poof' sound came from the other room and then several thumps after it. The brunette opened the door to see many kunai embedded in the wall and a lone ANBU holding one in his hand.

Tenten laughed nervously. "Gomen. Are you-"

"I'm fine. Hokage-sama has summoned you. Come."

The ANBU held out a lone hand. Tenten hesitantly grasped it and the next second they were in the Hokage's office. Her gaze went past the Godaime and to the clock on the wall which read seven thirty. She must have been in the shower longer than she thought. The ANBU bowed and left after a nod from Tsunade in his direction.

"You summoned me Hokage-sama?"

"Hai. It's been a day and the team I sent out yesterday hasn't returned. If you still want to go I'm sending a two medic nin teams to recover anyone who may have been injured. You can travel along with them, but you are not to leave their group unless given permission to do so."

Tenten smiled, a glimmer of hope behind her eyes. "When do we leave?"

"Right after your teammate gets here."

Another telltale 'poof' sound echoed off the walls. The same ANBU as earlier stood next to her when the smoke cleared, except now a boy in a green jumpsuit was also in an 'at attention' stance beside him.

"Will there be anything else Hokage-sama?" The ANBU asked.

"No. Dismissed."

The ANBU vanished. Lee was left standing beside Tenten. She could feel the excitement pouring off him in waves as the Godaime smirked in his direction.

"Lee, how would you like to test out your body on a special mission I have for you?" Tsunade already knew his answer.

"Yosh! I would love to Tsunade-sama! What is it that you need?"

"You and Tenten will accompany two medic units in an attempt to find anyone injured from yesterday's mission. This can also mean that you'll be coming up against enemy resistance so stay alert."

Tenten could tell Lee wanted to jump up and down in happiness but controlled himself. He did manage to send a stiff nod the Hokage's way which brought a smile to Tsunade's features. She sat up straighter.

"Good. Rendezvous with the units outside the hospital. One more thing. If at all you split off from the medic teams, Tenten is team leader."

A joint 'hai' was heard and then the two were gone. Lee was mostly being pulled by his teammate to the hospital where they met up with the two units of two and then left to the gates. He couldn't understand her urgency but followed her nonetheless. Tenten could feel the adrenaline start to pump into her veins as the came upon the first couple of trees, the medic units running right beside them. The brunette noticed she was going faster than usual when Lee gave her a questioning look and she turned back to the medical units who were taking soldier pills. She sighed and slowed her pace a little.

About an two hours later the group came upon a large crater in the ground where a big sound nin was laid out. He was obviously dead, the killing blow a lethal punch to his midsection. The group scanned around and found Choji lying not to far from the giant. He looked to have lost a lot of weight and his breathing was almost nonexistent. One medic unit quickly ran to his aid began a diagnostic jutsu. While they began analyzing the shinobi Tenten picked up a glass container next to him and showed the other unit.

"He's in terrible condition. What could have-" one medic began.

"Akimichi soldier pills, and it looks like he's taken all of them. He's lucky to be still breathing," the medic with the case said.

"Get him back to konoha," the man who Tenten assumed was the head medic nin spoke. The other two quickly followed the order, taking out a sealing scroll and pouring some chakra into it. A makeshift stretcher came out of the scroll and Choji's body was quickly loaded onto it. After a quick nod in their direction they took off toward the way they came. Tenten was the first to jump back into the trees again, everyone else following behind her.

The brunette's thoughts were filled with possibilities of what could have caused them to separate from their Akimichi comrade. Unless the team was ambushed she just didn't see a reason how. Even if the team was forced to separate they would have come back for Choji. Surely someone had to have survived. That brought on another unpleasant thought the brunette would have rather avoided. What if no one else had survived because the oto nin were too strong?

"Tenten!"

Lee's voice snapped the brunette out of her daydream just in time to avoid an ridiculously giant spider web. She quickly jumped to the ground and a kunai appeared in her hand. Not a second later the other nin landed beside her, also in defensive positions. When the group was satisfied that there wasn't any danger they began searching through the area for any injured nin. Tenten was the first to make some sort of progress navigating around the spider webs while Lee and the others struggled. She walked through a few bushes and made her way into some sort of a clearing. The brunette took a look around until she spotted a black ninja shoe in the middle of the small area. She had to maneuver herself around a few shrubs but when she finally made it to the other side she wished she hadn't.

"...Neji? Neji!"

Tenten quickly rushed to his side. Her calls brought the other nin to her location. Neji's face was almost colorless and his eyes closed, yet a happy expression was seen on his features. The brunette saw why when she noticed an oto nin lying not too far from where they were, a thread of spider web coming out of his mouth. He was dead also. Tenten looked over her teammates still form. A gaping hole was in his body from one side to the other. Surely it had been what killed him. She had to force herself not to cry. Turning her gaze away from her teammate, her eyes passed over Lee and the medic team as they ran to run diagnostic jutsu. The green clad genin's gaze was elsewhere; He also seemed to be trying to hold his tears back.

"He's still alive,' one medic stated.

Tenten and Lee both whirled around and rushed to their hyuuga teammate's side. Both were startled to hear that he did in fact still have a heartbeat, though it was very faint. Tenten let out a relieved sigh while Lee chose to sit up and face the way they were supposed to be heading.

"Take him back to konoha now," The brunette ordered, surprising the two medic nin.

"You're coming with us," The head nin answered. "Tsunade-sama said we were not to split off unless attacked by an enemy or it was completely necessary."

Tenten cast her gaze to the dead oto nin. "He attacked us and we were forced to separate. We covered for you two so that you could get Neji to safety."

"But Tsunade-sama-" the other medic nin started.

"You would want us to leave our comrades out here to die?" Lee asked, still facing away.

"N-No but-"

"Then we were forced to separate. Get Neji-kun back to konoha and we will catch up if we find anyone else." Tenten nodded in agreement.

The head medic sighed. "Alright, but you two be careful. I don't want to have to come back her looking for your bodies."

Both members of team nine gave a stiff nod before Lee jumped into the trees, Tenten not far behind him. The brunette noticed that his pace had quickened but she chose to pay little attention to this fact, popping a soldier pill to keep her reserves up. Lee's eyes were filled with a fire she had never seen before, he was angry. The two ran for what seemed like too long a time and Tenten could already see the clouds starting to approach from the horizon. It had at least been an hour and a half and they hadn't sighted any more of the team that left yesterday. Tenten's worry began creeping up on her again. Naruto must be ahead of them, but what if he was in a fight with a nin like Neji had fought? Would he survive? The brunette stopped on a branch. Lee ceased running also, a confused look on his face.

"Do you see something Tenten?"

The brunette shook her head. "That's exactly what I'm worried about. We should have at least seen someone. Even if we speed up they're probably so far ahead that we won't catch them until their fights are over, if they are fighting."

Lee sighed. "What do we do then?"

Tenten took out a sealing scroll. "You're the only one fast enough to catch them. Take off your weights and keep going in this direction. I'll hold onto them and be your backup when I catch up to you."

Lee seemed a little uncertain. "But what if you get ambushed while I am gone?"

Tenten shook her head "You'll find anyone before I do. Just please, go find N...the others. If we can stop them from getting hurt like Neji it's worth the risk."

The green clad genin took a pause to think to himself. He didn't want to leave her, but she wouldn't encounter anything that he wouldn't. He began unstrapping his weights, setting them gently on the ground so that craters would not form. Tenten sealed them soon afterward. Lee was about to take off when Tenten cleared her throat, a small grin on her face.

"I hope you can still go fast enough with your body how it is. Don't hurt yourself though."

Lee had to stop himself from demanding to know if she was challenging him. Instead, with his eyes full of the fire that his sensei had instilled in him, he took off into the trees. Dust blew up into Tenten's face, making her rethink her decision of taunting him. She sighed and jumped onto the nearest tree heading in the same direction. At least now if Naruto was in some trouble up ahead Lee would make it in time to help. She grabbed at her pouch to and pulled out another soldier pill, her legs picking up their momentum as she swallowed the blood colored orb.

* * *

Another five clones dispelled and along with them Naruto's nerve fell. He had tried everything against this guy and nothing had worked. Using rasengan had passed through his mind but he had already summoned too many clones. If he succeeded it would waste the rest of his chakra. He would be too weak to even carry the case home, even with the fox helping a little. The red chakra surging through his veins fueled his anger as he sent out another thirty clones, but they were quickly destroyed. The guy's smirk after only irritated him more.

"Trash should be taken out," he commented, a bone emerging from his hand.

Naruto growled and prepared to summon more clones when the container behind the bone guy started releasing a purple smoke. His opponent smiled and dropped his defensive stance just as an explosion rocked the area. When the purple smoke cleared the blond could see Sasuke standing still, though his form was clearly different. He was about to call out to him, but the Uchiha's maniacal laughter stopped him in his tracks. Another growl rose in his throat.

"Sasuke!"

He didn't answer. Sasuke's hands fell back to his sides and his form returned to normal. The youngest Uchiha then jumped into the trees, his destination unknown to the blond who watched him go. Naruto immediately attempted to follow, but his opponent quickly circled behind him, his bone blade poised to strike. The blond knew it was too late to avoid the attack but before it could hit Kimimaro flew in the opposite direction. It took Naruto a minute to make out his savior as Lee, already in his taijutsu stance. He sighed in relief.

"Please, Naruto-kun. Let me face this enemy."

"If you're sure you can handle it fuzzy brows. I have to go after Sasuke."

Lee nodded. "Leave it to me."

Naruto took off towards the forest. Kimimaro quickly tried to block his way but Lee's foot to his chest prevented this action, sending the oto nin flying back. The blond continued running, knowing that his friend would be fine.

Lee's eyes stayed on his foe. He could tell from looking at the nin that he would be a tough opponent. In his head, the green jumpsuit wearing ninja stored a thought away to thank Tsunade again for this mission. It hadn't taken him too long to reach Naruto, so Tenten would be reaching his position in the next half hour at the least. He charged in and threw a kick but this time Kimimaro was ready for it. The kaguya narrowly avoided the kick, aiming a kick of his own to green beast's chest. Lee caught the kick, smirking all the while, and threw Kimimaro off balance.

The bone user flipped off of his hands, landing a good distance away. Before he knew what happened Lee was once again in front of him. Kimimaro was the recipient of a vicious kick to the ribs as he rolled away. He quickly returned to his feet, eyes showing brief annoyance.

"I suppose you aren't trash like your friend. However, that will not stop me from beating you. I will be of as much use to Orochimaru-sama as I can before I fall."

Lee remained in his defensive stance, even when the mark on his opponent's chest began spreading across his body.

* * *

Tenten came upon a giant wall of white. She had been running for a little more than half an hour but this obstacle caused her to stop. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be several tall white poles. The brunette knew that this was not native to the forest but had no choice. She turned to the right and began running around the vast array of poles. It was some time before she began to get back on track, at which point she realized she was about to reach the entrance to fire country. It was where the Shodai's and Madara Uchiha's, the founders of konoha, statues stood tall.

She stopped in her tracks as a feeling of dread overcame her, along with an aura of evil chakra. It was actually two different chakras, both sharing the same level of malevolence. Tenten had to steady herself on a tree, her will to continue faltering for an instant. If Naruto was the against one of the owners of those chakras up ahead, she had to go help him. Even if they both wouldn't stand a chance, she couldn't just leave him to die. Not after coming all the way out here. The brunette quickly checked over her supplies before continuing on, this time at a slower and more cautious pace.

The intensity of the chakras increased the closer she neared but Tenten persisted. This time, her legs refused to give out on her and her sole thought was on rescuing her comrade. Tenten finally made it to the edge of the forest. A huge waterfall separated the statues and two forms were located near their feet. It took the brunette a second to make out who was on the left. Sasuke, though she didn't know what had happened to his body. The only thing she could see from afar were the appendages that looked like wings on his back. A ball of black lightning began to form in his hand, which prompted Tenten to look at his target.

Naruto.

He was engulfed in chakra Tenten had never seen before. It was red and yet still seemed to have an orange tinge to it. Like Sasuke, a ball began to form in his hand, though this one was blue. The brunette quickly analyzed the situation as they both stared at each other. Sasuke seemed ready to kill his foe while Naruto's stance was a little more reserved. He still wanted to bring the uchiha back to Sakura. Tenten made her decision, instantly taking out a scroll.

Near the waterfall, both boys were busy staring at each other, waiting for the first move. Naruto was determined not to break the bond had formed with Sasuke and yet the latter's determination lay in the opposite cause. They both prepared to jump toward one another but an agonized scream from Sasuke halted Naruto's movements. He stared at his ex-teammate for a moment before noticing that the flesh between one of his wings had been torn off. A windmill shuriken sat in the leg of the statue behind Sasuke, blood leaking off the weapon and hitting the ground at his feet.

Both boys turned a surprised glance toward the hill where they assumed the weapon had come from. Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized Tenten's form atop the hill, two scrolls in her hands. Sasuke's eyes opened wider for a different reason as the three explosive kunai he never expected neared his position faster than he could dodge. He brought his wings around his body at the last second. The explosion rocked the ground near the structure and for a second the blond thought it was going to fall over. Smoke surrounded the area so that nothing was visible. Naruto was ready to sigh in relief and retrieve his friend. Before he could, however, Sasuke's form shot out of the smoke, burn marks on both of his wings. The blond's heart almost stopped when he saw that the young Uchiha was headed toward Tenten, chidori still in hand.

Tenten was startled at seeing Sasuke emerge from the smoke. No one should have been able to survive such an explosion at that range. She was even more surprised when Naruto rushed after him, throwing a claw of red chakra toward the Uchiha.

A claw.

The brunette hurriedly shook out of her stupor and summoned a staff from her scroll. She didn't have enough time to go through her defensive scrolls for a shield and evading Sasuke was impossible at the speed he was traveling. She hoped against hope that the steel pole would be enough to protect her from any hit.

It wasn't.

Instead of attacking her with the chidori Sasuke flew close to her side and drove his knee deep into her torso, breaking the staff in the process. Tenten was catapulted back by the sheer force of the blow, her body going through a tree. She kept rolling along the ground until her back and head hit a rock. It halted her movements and caused her to emit a gasp of pain. She coughed hard, knowing he had broken some of her ribs. The brunette struggled but managed to open one eye despite the condition she was in. She was greeted by Sasuke rushing toward her. He spun clockwise in an attempt to smash her into the ground with the back of his right wing, but Naruto's one hand prevented that action. She could feel the chakra exuding off his body not three feet from her.

"Rasengan!"

Through her blurring vision Tenten saw the blue ball of spinning chakra make contact with the back side of Sasuke's wing, spinning and tearing at the flesh. He screamed in agony and yet somehow still brought his right hand up to attack. She was too winded to warn Naruto as his opponent's hand made it's way toward his midsection.

"Chidori!"

Tenten was forced to watch the Uchiha's lighting enveloped hand tear through Naruto on one side, and the come out the other. His blood began leaking on the ground near her but she could do nothing as her vision darkened even more. She saw Naruto make one last attempt to grab his foe, but it only resulted in a thick scratch on Sasuke's headband courteous of Naruto's claws. The last thing she saw before succumbing to darkness was the blond slowly slumping to the ground, his shocked eyes leveled on her own.

* * *

**Review/Critique**


	9. Waking Up

**Hey Guys**

**Well, I said it'd be a fast update but I didn't think it would be this fast. It only about 3K words but I felt you deserved it because of that A/N.**

**Big change this chap. Read on to find out.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own little to nothing.**

She rolled over with a groan, the soreness at the back of her head not completely understood. Through the small amount of cerebral throbbing she managed to crack open her eyes. The brunette was temporarily blinded by the light the reflected off of the clean ceiling. When her eyes finally adjusted to the brightness of the room she allowed her gaze pass around it. Everything was white including the bed sheet she was so firmly tucked into. She could only guess that the staff wanted her to remain comfortable and in one place at the same time.

Tenten attempted to sit up a little straighter. She immediately regretted the action when her ribs protested. When the pain ebbed away a few minutes later she attempted to sit up again, albeit a little slower this time. Tenten put a hand to her head to try to recollect her thoughts about what had landed her in this state. She and Lee leaving for the mission. Finding Neji and Choji. Going on without the medic team. Telling Lee to go on ahead. Finding Sasuke and Naruto at the waterfall. The sharingan wielder over her, his wings spinning. Red chakra appearing in front of her along with Naruto's form. The ball in his hand smashing into Sasuke's wing, twisting and turning the skin. The chidori in Sasuke's hand making it's way toward...

"Naruto!"

Her call was answered by no one. Tenten considered jumping out of bed but knew she wasn't in any condition to do so. Besides, the bed's sheets held her firmly in place. She reached for the call button on the railing. Tenten's frustration rose when no one came in the first few seconds and she began mashing the button with all her strength. About three minutes later a breathless nurse entered the room, clipboard and pen in hand. In the first few seconds she busied herself with scribbling on the paper, much to the annoyance of the brunette laying in the bed.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"That doesn't matter. Where are the others?"

The nurse didn't give any indication that she had even heard Tenten. She continued scribbling, either ignoring the audible growling coming from the bed or choosing not to care. It was only when Tenten tried to climb out of the bed that she spoke.

"If you move you'll only tear your bandages. Tsunade-sama told me to report to her once you awoke and I checked your condition. So how do you feel?" She pressed.

Tenten took notice of the bandages that adorned her torso. She grumbled. "Sore, but fine. Now where's-" She didn't get a chance to finish as the nurse walked out the door. At that moment, if Tenten had a kunai she would have run outside and forced the answers out of her. Instead she was forced to wait silently in the bed for an additional ten minutes before Tsunade made her way into the room. She was clearly disappointed when she met the brunette's gaze.

"Tsunade-sama, where-"

"How are you feeling, Tenten?"

The brunette swallowed. "I-I'm fine."

"Would you mind telling me why you separated from the medic teams I assigned you to?"

"W-Well an Oto nin-"

"Don't lie to me Tenten. The autopsy confirmed that he was long dead before you arrived."

Tenten lowered her head in shame. "Neji was badly injured. Lee and I decided that we had to go after them just in case they were still fighting. We couldn't just leave them out there." The volume of her voice increased every word.

Tsunade remained indifferent. "I suppose it was a good thing you did. From what Lee's told me, he was the reason Naruto had been able to pursue Sasuke."

"What happened to...the others?"

Tsunade sighed. "Choji and Neji weren't in the best condition but they've been stabilized. Kiba, Shikamaru, and Lee didn't sustain any heavy injuries so they'll be fine as well."

Tenten waited. Tsunade didn't say anything else. The smirk she was wearing made the brunette blush for some reason. "What about Naruto?"

"I was waiting for you to ask. He sustained severe injuries but...he'll live. There also something I need to discuss with you." The Godaime's sudden serious expression made the brunette a little uneasy.

"Hai?"

Tsunade took a deep breath. "What did you see when you arrived at The Valley of the End?"

"How did you know-"

"Kakashi was the who came across you. He's the reason you're back in Konoha."

Tenten eyes met her the bed sheet she was laying in. "It looked like they were about to kill each other. Sasuke had wings and his skin tone was darker. Naruto...he was covered in this red chakra. It felt so...evil. It wasn't normal chakra but...he still protected me after Sasuke attacked. I passed out after Sasuke hit Naruto with the chidori. Are you sure he's okay?"

Tsunade smiled. "He's fine. I already told you, he's too stubborn to die."

"But what about that chakra?"

She sighed. "Naruto is...different from all the other genin in your age group. I can't tell you why. Not unless he gives me permission to first."

"Can I see him?"

That same smirk was back on the Godaime's features. "What about the others? Don't you want to check if they're okay too?"

Tenten blushed again. "I-I do but you already told me they were fine."

"I told you Naruto was fine too," Tsunade pointed out.

Tenten brought her hands up to her face to hide the embarrassment she was certain was visible to the Godaime. "I was there when he was injured though. I saw the chidori...go through him. I just want to make sure...Tsunade-sama."

The blond Hokage shrugged. "Let me conduct quick a diagnostic jutsu on you. Both of you ribs have already been fixed and the minor concussion you had has been taken care of. You should be sore for a few days but you'll be fine after." She said this all while running a green hand over Tenten's frame. The brunette laid still during the entire process so that she would be certain nothing else was wrong with her. Tsunade pulled back with a smile on her face.

"I couldn't find anything else wrong with you but take it easy. I may be sending you on another mission in a week or two."

Tenten nodded. She made another futile attempt attempt to escape from the confines of her bed but the sheets held fast. Tsunade gave her a strange look. Tenten knew her face had to be the color of a tomato because of the embarrassment of not being able to free herself from a few blankets. The Godaime's laughter only caused her face to heat up more.

"Need some help?" She offered.

Tenten's nod was hardly noticeable. Tsunade made her way to the bedside and took a firm grasp on the covers. The pieces of cloth were yanked from the bed and Tenten could of sworn the wheel rose a little bit off of the ground as the sound of ripping filled the air. Tsunade looked what remained of the covers with indifference. Her eyes turned to Tenten''s face, which had admiration written all over it.

"Can you teach me how to do that?"

"I'll think about it."

* * *

Naruto stared out the window at the approaching sunset. The chirping birds sounded the exact opposite of how he felt. He woke up about half an hour earlier, still covered in bandages. Nothing really hurt anymore but the memory of the chidori tearing into his flesh remained in his mind. Before Tenten had arrived, he wasn't completely sure if he could hit Sasuke with the rasengan because he feared killing or seriously hurting the Uchiha. If Sasuke had died as a result of the spinning orb it would have been he who broke the bond that he was so determined to keep. Naruto knew he couldn't live and deal with that everyday.

He couldn't protect Tenten either. It took all his willpower to force his body to chase after his ex-teammate and even then he had been too late to prevent the brunette from getting hurt. It was only after she was knocked through the tree that his body sped up enough to catch Sasuke's next attack. That in itself was a mystery the blond had yet to solve. When preparing for the rasengan he did it one handed because his other was damaged. However, when he reached the sharingan user and stopped his attack, he had used the exact arm that had been immobilized. Somehow it obeyed his command regardless of the injury.

He could attribute this to the fox healing his arm faster than usual, but the chakra that surrounded him was also damaging his skin. Could the kyuubi heal him at a faster pace than the chakra damaged him? Naruto made a mental note to visit his tenant soon and get some answers.

"It looks like you received quite the beating."

Naruto nearly fell out of his hospital bed. His eyes went to the outside of he window where the Toad sannin was grinning. "Ero-sennin! What are you doing here?"

Jiraiya hopped in through the opening. He leaned against the wall, judging Naruto's injuries. "What happened?"

"Tsunade-baa-chan didn't tell you?"

"I know what the mission was about. What I'm concerned about is how your fight against Sasuke went."

Naruto sighed. He relayed the information about the fight to the toad sannin and sat back for his evaluation.

Jiraiya rubbed his temples. "So if I have this right, it was about even until you felt kyuubi's chakra enter your system. After that he was getting beat to a pulp, then all of a sudden he could detect your movements?"

Naruto nodded. "Then Sasuke-teme used this amazing katon jutsu. I think it was Ryuuka no Jutsu. It was stronger than I've ever seen him do it before."

Jiraiya raised and eyebrow but let him continue.

"After it happened...he was surprised just like me. He was acting like the real Sasuke," Naruto's eyes lowered.

"Then he smashed your head into the ground," Jiraiya interrupted.

"...Hai. He used this weird seal on his neck and changed his body after kyuubi took over. Then Tenten came."

Jiraiya pushed off the window and sat up. He seemed to have something on his mind. "Naruto, if it weren't for the kyuubi I doubt you'd be alive right now."

The blond's eyes became downcast. He knew that the toad sannin was telling the truth. "I already know that."

The older male sighed. Just when he opened his mouth to say something Tsunade walked in, a limping girl by her side. The blanket separating beds blocked Naruto from view so Jiraiya was the only one to receive a glare from the younger girl and a questioning look from his old teammate.

"Who are you?" Tenten asked. Naruto jumped a little at hearing her voice. This did not go unnoticed by the toad sannin who was all to happy for the bait to introduce himself. He was interrupted, however, when Tsunade chose to introduce him herself.

"His name is Jiraiya. What are you doing here?"

He grinned. "Just having a word with the gaki. I need to discuss something with you as well Tsunade-hime." He waggled his eyebrows. Tenten's mouth was agape as she realized there was only one Jiraiya to come out of Konoha. He had to be the sannin from the way he addressed Tsunade. Said woman was shaking in attempt to control her anger at the ridiculously lame come on.

"Is it important?" The blond kunoichi questioned.

The toad sannin's face suddenly lost all or it's previous playful nature. His only answer was a subtle nod. Tsunade motioned for him to follow her. Jiraiya carefully made his way around Tenten.

"I'll be coming for you tomorrow morning, Naruto." He and Tsunade left.

Tenten slowly shuffled around to the other side of the blanket. Naruto was in the bed with bandages all over his body. The gut wound he received from the mission seemed to have never been placed there. His eyes were a little dull, no doubt because of the mission failure. Tsunade hadn't spoken about it the entire way to the hospital room which struck the brunette as odd. Maybe she didn't want to add insult to injury so early. She made her way, slowly, to the stool at his bedside.

"You look terrible," Tenten said while sitting down. Naruto chuckled.

"You don't look that great either. Are you feeling alright?"

"Better. Still sore though." Tenten rubbed her torso gingerly. "What about you? I thought you...I was worried."

"I'll be okay. I heal fast."

"So I see."

The brunette's hand ran over the area that she assumed the chidori had pierced through. It was smooth; There were no signs that anything had ever happened. She was still curious about this and the red chakra, but Naruto was probably too tired to answer any questions. She looked back up at him; His face was a little red. Tenten saw why when she noticed her hand was still stroking his abdomen.

"Gomen." She pulled her hand away but left it on the bed.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "It's okay. Are Neji and-"

"They're fine. Tsunade-sama told me that they'll be healthy enough to walk in a few days." She laid her head down on bed.

Naruto allowed a little bit of happiness on his features at hearing this. At least the others had survived. "That's good to hear." He sighed. "Tenten?"

The brunette rose her head. "Hm?"

"I...I don't regret staying. I wish I could have stopped him but I'm not sad I stayed. It was fun."

Tenten's smile was unseen because her head was turned the other way. She moved the hand that she wasn't resting on into his, grasping it gently. "Arigatou. That's good to hear."

Naruto other hand came up to stroke her hair softly. He swore he could hear Tenten purr contently. The thought made him chuckle despite that fact that her weight was beginning to take away the feeling in his leg. Minutes later light snoring began coming from the brunette. He began laughing silently until he realized he was in fact tired too. The blond leaned back into his hospital bed and was soon in a slumber as well.

He woke up a few hours later to Tenten's shivering. She kept maneuvering around in what he guessed was an attempt to get some warmth. He gently shook her until her head gradually lifted. He found the half-asleep look in her eyes and the disarray of her hair to be oddly cute. She shivered again when her gaze met his and began climbing into the hospital bed. He didn't miss the hiss of pain as she climbed over his body and he made her way to the other side of the bed while tucking into his side. Naruto thought about protesting but that thought was quickly cast out when he felt her warm body against his. He awkwardly pulled her under the covers, a blush on his cheeks.

"Uh...Tenten..."

"Shh...talk about...morning."

Naruto chose to say nothing else and turned over. His thoughts refused to acknowledge anything except the warm body at his side as he fell asleep once again.

The sunlight slowly made it's way through the window. This was not what woke the two in the bed, however. The door opening was what actually forced the two to wake up. Tenten's head was hidden underneath the covers because she was lying lower than he was. It took a minute for her to notice her position. Bandages, a hospital gown, and Naruto's hand in hers. Her cheeks turned red as the memory of what she did last night came back to her. She could also tell Naruto was awake if his heartbeat speeding up was any indication. She felt his other arm tighten around her.

Naruto's arm loosened when he saw who came around the other side of the curtain. Sakura cautiously made her way to his bed. She smiled when she noticed he was awake and staring at her. For his part, Naruto didn't want to see her because of the promise he had broken. It was the first.

"Morning, Sakura-chan..." His voice was a little hoarse.

Sakura only smiled back at him, making her way slowly over to the bed. She must not have noticed the other lump under the covers or misinterpreted it as bunched up covers. Sakura enveloped him in a hug, something that startled both him Tenten, who felt him stiffen. The closeness between them was starting to make the blond a little uncomfortable. He was relieved when she pulled back, only to leave a kiss on his cheek when she was far away enough. Naruto's mouth was open in a silent 'O' of surprise as Sakura smiled at him. His eyes widened more with the next sentence she spoke.

"Arigatou Naruto, for bringing Sasuke-kun back. For everything."

The surprise on Naruto's face was nothing compared to the shock on Sakura's as Tenten threw back the covers and sat straight up, the soreness in her ribs ignored.

"What!"

* * *

**Surprise!**

**Well then, this is my attempt at diverging from the usual storyline. Please understand, I did not change this as a result of Lame End's review. Okey Dokey was actually the one who convinced me to change it, albeit it won't be by too much. I realized something that happens when I write. I do in fact revert back to cannon only because I think I can't pull of creative work. Honestly, I'm not too sure where this is going, but I'm going to try. This will still be Humor/Romance with not too much action, seeing as I'm not the best at it. Maybe it will change. One thing I don't want, though, is to have this as a super powered fic because there are so little Naru/Ten's that focus solely or mostly on romance.**

**Review/Critique**


	10. Initiative

**Hey Guys**

**Yes, it's been about two weeks. I had to pick which one of my stories would be updated first.**

**This little eight-thousand word chapter is finished though. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Please don't come to me for subbed episodes. :)**

Sakura pulled away so fast her head and back hit the wall at the same time. She slid down slowly and clutched the back of it. The two did not miss the red hue on the pink haired medic nin's face as her eyes rose to meet Naruto. His left hand was linked with Tenten's right while she used her other one to rub her torso. Naruto's mouth was still open throughout this entire ordeal. The shock of both the kiss and success of the mission guaranteed he wouldn't come out of his stupor anytime soon. Sakura pointed an accusing finger in Tenten's direction, a gesture the brunette matched with a glare.

"What are you doing in his bed! This is a hospital!"

Tenten turned to her left. Naruto trance was gradually subsiding. "I know that. What did you say about Sasuke?"

Sakura stiffened. She was certain that Tenten knew she kissed Naruto's cheek. "It didn't mean anything! I was just grateful to him for bringing Sasuke-kun back!"

Tenten growled. "You didn't answer my question! How did he get back in Konoha? We failed the mission. Sasuke should have escaped."

Sakura slowly shook her head. "Tsunade-sama said that the mission was a success. She's going to let me see Sasuke-kun today."

"That doesn't make any sense. He knocked both of us out. How..."

Tenten put a hand to her head. There was no way that the raven haired boy incapacitated both of them only to sit and wait for someone to drag him back to the village. The last thing she remembered was the chidori ripping through the flesh of the blond beside her. Tenten knew that he had gone down after that. Even if he hadn't, he had shown as much surprise as she had when Sakura told him. Why hadn't Tsunade let them know that they succeeded?

"Where is he?" The question from the solemn blond surprised the two kunoichi.

"I don't know," Sakura answered. "Tsunade-sama hasn't told me yet."

Naruto was halfway out of the bed when he was stopped by resistance on his arm. Tenten kept a firm grip on his hand despite the fact that he kept trying to pull away. Sakura remained quiet the entire time, watching the struggle with interest.

"Let me go," Naruto ordered.

"Are you serious? You just woke up from a serious gut wound and you want to walk around like it was nothing?"

"I'll be fine. I already told you; I heal fast."

Tenten shook her head. She turned to the pink haired kunoichi who flinched a little under her gaze. "When did Tsunade-sama say that you could visit Sasuke?"

"This afternoon. I'm supposed to report to her office around twelve."

The brunette looked at the clock and sighed. It was only about seven. "Come get us when you go."

Sakura was a little hesitant in responding. "I don't think Sasuke-kun wants to see anyone but Naruto or me. We're his teammates."

Tenten's temper flared. "Do you think I care! That bastard broke two of my ribs! The least he could do is apologize!"

Sakura opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by a sigh from Naruto. "She's right Sakura-chan...but I want to be the first one to see him. I have to be."

She was torn. Sakura wanted to be the first one to see Sasuke but Naruto deserved it more than she did. Even so, his girlfriend should have no part in seeing their teammate if only because of the yelling she would do. That wouldn't help the sharingan wielder. She sighed in defeat.

"I'll come and get you both when I leave." She turned to Tenten. "No yelling at Sasuke-kun though. It won't make things any better." She started walking toward the door.

Tenten was about to reply with some witty remark but a squeeze from the blond's hand made her voice die in her throat. She knew he had a lot on his mind. Naruto slowly made his way back to the bed and with a little of her help, he was pulled back on top of the blankets.

"Naruto," Sakura's voice could be heard from behind the blanket separating the two beds. "This is a hospital. Don't-"

"I told you; Whatever I do with my boyfriend is none of your business Sakura. Also, don't touch him like that again," Tenten called over the blanket.

The brunette smirked in satisfaction. She could almost feel the pink haired medic nin's jealous glare from across the room. There was no answer except the door closing louder than was necessary. Tenten was sure she could hear one of the hinges squeaking in protest. She leaned back on the bed, bringing Naruto with her. He was reluctant at first but eventually gave in to the repeated tugging from the brunette.

"I know you want to go see him now, but he's a prisoner. I don't think Tsunade-sama has even gone to wherever he is.

"Why not?"

"He probably needed medical treatment just like us. You just woke up too so don't rush yourself."

Naruto sighed. "She has to let me see him...even if I go now. Tenten, I already told you I heal faster than you do. It'll be alright. I only want to talk to him."

"Is it because of that red chakra?" Naruto stiffened. Now that they were both well rested, she decided to spring her question on the blond. It was on her mind the entire night.

"You...You saw it?"

Tenten nodded. "When you came to save me and when you were fighting Sasuke. It felt so evil but you still protected me when it was around you. It even attacked when you were chasing after Sasuke. What...is it like a kekkei genkai or something?"

"I-It's not a kekkei genkai. It's...it's kind of hard to explain. I have two chakras."

"Two? I thought it was impossible for a person to have more than one chakra in their system."

Naruto shook his head. "It happened when I was a baby. Since my chakra system wasn't fully developed it grew with my own."

"Why does it feel...malevolent then? I don't think I've ever felt it before but still...it was kind of familiar."

This was the part that Naruto didn't want to tell her. It was inevitable though. There was no other way to explain what she had seen and he was terrible at thinking on his feet, at least when it came to lying.

"Do you...what would you do if you found out that something was sealed inside you? Something like...an animal."

Tenten giggled.' "I'd be a little scared if I never knew. But what does that have to do with...wait, there's an animal inside you?"

The blond sighed. "Sort of. Would you think of me as the animal if I said it was sealed inside me?"

"You mean if there was a fish inside you would I think you were a fish?" Tenten giggled again. For some reason or another that made Naruto a little less wary about telling her. "No, I wouldn't."

"So what if I had a something like a demon sealed in me? Something...evil?" He nearly whispered the last part.

Tenten was momentarily stunned. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. "There's a demon inside you? But you're not evil Naruto so...is it just...sitting inside you?"

Naruto nodded. "Just sitting there because it's trapped. I'm not influenced by it but some villagers hate me because it's inside me. They think of me as the demon." Naruto's eyes lowered.

Tenten's gaze went to their joined hands. "Naruto...I don't completely understand but...I won't think of you as whatever is inside you. We've spent enough time together for me to see that you're nothing but a harmless and impulsive goofball." Naruto's sour look made her laugh. "So where is it?'

Naruto lifted up the bottom of his hospital shirt and moved some bandages around. Tenten's eyes widened as a large spiral with many others illustrations around it came into view. I went around his entire stomach, stopping at the waistband of his pants. She reached out with her finger and outlined the seal slowly. It wasn't like anything she had never seen before. Whoever placed it on him must have been a master at seals. The brunette allowed her hand to trace the rest of the mark before bringing it back to her side.

"It's behind a cage inside me. The only time I use it's power is when my life is in danger or I need to."

Tenten mulled this over for a minute. "Does it have a name?"

Naruto gulped. "Hai. Kyuubi."

Tenten entire body froze. Her hand's grip started to loosen but Naruto grasped it in an attempt to keep her by his side. He had to be lying. At least about the name of whatever was inside him. Though the more the brunette thought about it, the more he made sense. The claw that he threw at Sasuke, the strange tail coming out of the chakra once he stopped the uchiha's hand. As if in slow motion, she turned her head toward his and gazed into his eyes. There was something in them that Tenten had never seen before. It was fear. Fear that he would be hated because of what was sealed inside him. Her mouth went dry.

'A-Are you sure? The fourth-" Naruto shook his head.

"No, kyuubi was too powerful to kill. The Yondaime had no choice but to seal it inside an infant to stop it from destroying the village. I still don't know why he chose me," Naruto's tone was bitter.

Tenten had no choice but to believe him. Though it was utterly ridiculous to think that such a kind person like Naruto had the beast that almost leveled the entire village inside him, it was the only explanation. Where did that leave her thoughts about this? She was told the kyuubi killed her parents and many others in the attack nearly thirteen years ago but still, Naruto wasn't involved. She forced the impulse to blame him for those deaths to the back of her mind. The Yondaime could have picked any other baby and it would be the same case. Naruto was sweet; he wasn't evil and he never did anything to intentionally hurt her. She sighed.

"You're sure?" She asked one more time. He nodded.

"I've seen it once before. It's there."

Tenten was quiet for a moment. "I was told the kyuubi killed my parents." Naruto flinched. "But even so...I already told you that I wouldn't think of you as the demon. Does it even feel pain, regret, or any other emotion? Does it just stay quiet the entire time inside you?"

Naruto did a uncaring shrug. "All I know is if I die, it dies. I've never talked to it for too long."

"Does anyone else know? I mean, anyone in our age group?"

"No. It was Jii-san's law that adults couldn't tell their children. Even then, most kids our age avoid me because their parents keep them away from me. It's mostly the villagers, no one in the rookie nine."

"So that why...you've never had a girlfriend." Tenten surmised.

Naruto smiled awkwardly. "Hai. I didn't lie when I said I was a prankster though."

Tenten was silent from then on. A look at the clock told her they had been talking for almost four hours. Sakura would be back soon. That was still time to talk about things before that happened but they couldn't head to the academy like she planned. Both of them were too banged up, even though Naruto claimed he healed faster, and walking around soon wouldn't help their injuries. Tenten moved her hand more into his grasp, squeezing it gently.

"I won't tell anyone," She said.

Naruto smiled. "Arigatou. It...means a lot to have someone our age know and accept it. It really does Tenten." The blond scooted closer to her.

"Are you going to tell anyone else?" She mimicked his movements, also moving closer.

"I don't know. Maybe someday. I don't think anyone else could take it as well as you did."

Tenten nodded, laying her head on his shoulder. "I guess you're right. Tsunade-sama said she might be sending me on a mission in a week or two. That means you're going too."

Naruto was happy for the change of subject. "I can't wait."

"Me either."

He let out a relaxed breath. "This is nice. Why did you get in the bed yesterday?"

Tenten turned away to hide her blush. "I-It was cold and you didn't seem to mind. I'm your girlfriend I shouldn't have to explain!" She exclaimed while turning back and poking him in the chest.

Naruto chuckled, blushing as well. "I thought you were purring when I had my head in your hair yesterday."

"It felt...nice."

"It did?" She sighed as Naruto released his grip on her hand only to pass it through her hair softly. His quiet laughter wasn't even heard by the brunette. Her head remained on his shoulder. Her face in an expression of contentment. The period of silence that followed was entirely comfortable for the two in the hospital bed. Naruto kept up his slow passing motions through her hair, his thoughts on the brunette beside him.

'"Naruto what if...what if there was no Sakura?" Tenten suddenly spoke her mind, not only surprising him, but herself as well. His hand paused for he briefest instant which made the brunette to think he was put off by her question. When it resumed her heartbeat gradually returned to normal.

"What if there wasn't a Neji?" Naruto returned the question with equal curiosity.

Tenten and Naruto let the questions hang in the air. Naruto's hand never stopped it's soft stroking motions through her hair. It fell around her shoulders as he loosened the bonds holding the buns upright. The blond moved the hair of her eyes and peered into them, searching for an answer. He found nothing in her eyes; The same held true for Tenten. Only a trace of happiness was visible in behind each others pupils.

"Your hair really is pretty," Naruto said.

"I like your eyes," Tenten returned the compliment.

"You have a nice smile."

"The marks on your face are pretty cute." Said marks gained a red tinge of color.

"You're the first girl who's almost eaten as much ramen as me."

Tenten smirked at the strange attempt at flattery. "You're the first guy I've ever kissed."

Naruto blushed along with the kunoichi beside him. It was only a chaste kiss on the cheek that night but it was still something they had not forgotten. His hand made an longer stroke through her hair, making the brunette sigh a little louder. "I've never done this with any girl before."

Tenten raised her head from his shoulder slowly. The hand that was previously in his came up to caress his face. His encouraging smile spurred the brunette on as she stroked his cheeks slowly. His sigh was almost identical to the one that was drawn from her previously. "I've never touched a guy like this before."

Naruto dipped his head lower to get more feel out of the touch. Almost as if it was by some magnetic force, Tenten moved hers up also so that their eyes were level. His slow breathing was even with her own. The blond's hand came up to caress the opposite cheek that she was while he moved closer. He took a deep breath. "I haven't-"

Whatever Naruto was about to say was shut out by the door opening. They stared in each others eyes for only five more seconds before pulling away. Tenten let a sad smile grace her features and then dipped her head so that it was once again on his shoulder. Naruto allowed her to, his hand grasping her own a little tighter than every other time. Sakura walked around the blanket with an irritated look. Going by the way Tenten's hair looked and the misalignment of Naruto's bandages the two had little rest. She motioned for them to follow her. The blond almost jumped out of bed but Tenten climbed out at a much more sedate pace. Wordlessly, Naruto bent down so that she could hop on onto his back and the two followed the pink haired kunoichi out toward the Hokage tower.

* * *

Tsunade sighed loudly and put her head in her hands. Jiraiya grunted from his position in front of her, not surprised by her actions given the news that he relayed to her. They had been in the office for some time and while Jiraiya wasn't put off at all by her company, he had other things to do. It was getting well into late morning and he would bet the hyperactive blond was wondering where he was. The toad sannin stood up to leave.

"How long do you think it will be?" Tsunade asked.

"Five months at most. They're already organized but it seems that whatever they plan on doing with them will take some time."

"Our chances?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Even with all of the investigating I've done I haven't been able to gauge everyone's abilities. I'd say even with the jounin shortage we'd be able to fend them off, but at the cost of heavy losses. It's not worth it Tsunade."

"Just fend them off?"

Jiraiya nodded. "The losses would also put the village in danger from attack by any other countries. I doubt Iwa would give up such a chance."

Tsunade shook her head. "All this for one child."

"He's no ordinary child," Jiraiya commented. "In about two and a half months I'm leaving. If he isn't here then they'll have to focus on the others."

"Fine. What do you plan on doing until then?"

Jiraiya grinned. "Seeing as I'm done with investigating for now, I thought I'd stay in the village until it's time to leave. It's been a while since I've been to the hot springs..."

The vein gradually appearing on Tsunade's forehead immediately shut the toad sannin up. "No hot springs."

The toad sannin's pout was having no effect on the Godaime. He crossed his arms in a childlike manner. "Fine."

Tsunade laced her fingers together under her chin. "Is there anything else?"

Jiraiya uncrossed his arms. "Hai. Did you tell him that the mission was a success yet?"

"You should already know the answer to that. He just woke up and the first thing he'd do is rush down to where Sasuke was held, regardless of his condition."

"It seems that the kyuubi healed most of his injuries. You sure you're not just being overprotective?" Tsunade's glare didn't faze the other sannin.

"No. Speaking of that, I need you to do something regarding that seal. Is there any way to fully suppress it?"

"I should be able to do something. I can't guarantee it'll be painless though."

"As long as you're able to suppress it I don't care. We can't have him contacting Orochimaru and putting the village in danger," Tsunade said.

"I know. There's one more thing I'd like to discuss with Kakashi when you can contact him, regarding Sasuke's sharingan. Naruto tells me that even with the kyuubi's chakra he was able to see his movements. It may have advanced to the next stage."

Tsunade nodded and stood to escort the toad sannin to the door. He followed obediently, though it was at a much slower pace due to his eyes being elsewhere. The clueless Godaime opened the door to come face to face with two people she could do without seeing today. Jiraiya's eyes immediately went to the two in the doorway. He sighed and walked behind the Godaime's desk where she took a seat in her chair, him standing beside her. Homura and Koharu each took chairs in front of Tsunade.

"We would like to know your plans regarding Sasuke Uchiha, Tsunade." Homura stated. Koharu nodded beside him in agreement.

Tsunade smirked. "I thought we had proper procedures for captured nukenin. Unless things have changed since I left, it should be clear what the correct course of action is."

Koharu's eyebrows knit. "While this is true, the last Uchiha isn't a normal case. Konoha is vulnerable as of now and losing a valuable kekkei genkai would only weaken us further."

"So you suggest we use the boy to breed only? That's a bit immoral, isn't it?" Jiraiya spoke for the Godaime.

"I agree with Jiraiya. Sasuke Uchiha may be a nukenin but he is still human." Tsunade seconded.

Jiraiya could gave sworn the old woman was glaring at him through her wrinkles. "What do you propose we do then Tsunade? We clearly cannot let the boy roam the streets as if nothing happened. The uproar from other ninja, not to mention current prison inmates, is something that we can do without."

"I haven't reached my decision on that matter yet. If Sasuke is still determined to leave the village he will be executed. While he is the last wielder of the sharingan in konoha, allowing him to leave or do as he pleases could do us more harm than good."

"And if his loyalty is still to the village?" Homura questioned.

Tsunade sighed. "At best, it will be a short prison sentence. At worst, he will be stripped of his rank as a konoha nin and forced to live a civilian life, after mandatory incarceration of course. He will still be able to pass on his genes to the next generation, but won't be a threat to the village."

The two elders reluctantly agreed. A prison sentence was the least that the young Uchiha would get away with. "How will you determine this, Tsunade?" Koharu questioned.

Tsunade raised her head from her hands. "I haven't decided yet. The usual procedure would be to send him to Ibiki, though I want there to be something left of the boy when the interrogation is over. As of now, I'm leaning towards Anko. If Sasuke knows anything about Oto I'm sure she'll be able to get it out of him without putting him in critical condition."

Homura and Koharu turned to each other and stood up. They left soon afterward without so much as a goodbye to either sannin. Jiraiya and Tsunade knew they were focused on doing what was best for the village but sometimes the two elders could dismiss the most inhumane acts with this objective in mind. The toad sannin gave her a lopsided smile when Tsunade turned to him, effectively lightening up her mood.

"Think they'll ever change?" Jiraiya questioned

Tsunade scoffed. "The same day Ororchimaru is declared the Rokudaime."

The two shared a chuckle before jumping at the sound of the door opening. The three genin walked in wondering why two legendary ninja were staring at them with wide eyes, as if they had been caught doing something illegal. Jiraiya and Tsunade quickly righted themselves.

"Naruto you shouldn't be-"

"Where is he?" The blond stopped her in mid-sentence. Tsunade sighed.

"In a holding cell. It's at the lowest level of the tower." Naruto turned around. "But there are ANBU guarding it," Tsunade continued.

The blond stopped. Tenten threw the Godaime an apologetic look from her position on his back. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you'd do exactly what you're doing now. I don't care how fast you heal or how much you think you need to see him. You needed at least a few days rest," Tsunade explained.

Tenten's ears perked up at that bit of information. Tsunade hadn't told them of how long they had been unconscious yet. "How long were we out Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade waved one hand in an uncaring manner. "Only two days. While we do have skilled medics in the hospital, they're not able to mend your injuries without some soreness afterward. Naruto, you're lucky to be alive after that chidori tore through you. If Kakashi hadn't rushed you back to the hospital you might not have made it, advanced healing or not."

Sakura turned her surprised eyes to the blond next to her. Sasuke had thrust a chidori through him? She couldn't locate any traces of the wound from this distance but maybe it was just her eyes. Still, for him to go to that extent to bring Sasuke back. The pink haired nin lowered her gaze to the ground, feeling somewhat guilty.

"I'm fine now though Baa-chan. If you let Sakura-chan see him why can't I too?"

Tsunade swung her head to the other sannin. He shrugged in response, an identical questioning look on his face. "Fine. I'll take you down to the cell but only for a few minutes each. After medical treatment Sasuke was immediately confined to a cell and he hasn't said a word since. Don't expect a friendly conversation." Tsunade directed those last words to Sakura.

They left the office, making the slow journey down to the bottom of the Hokage tower. Naruto had no idea why they would keep criminals in the lowest levels of the tower where, if any of them were to escape, they could harm the Hokage. They must be watched even closer than regular nin because of them being a danger to the village. His heart did a small leap at the fact that Sasuke was now one of those people. He tore his thoughts away from that subject on favor of listening to Tenten speaking to Tsunade.

"Hokage-sama how did Sasuke get back to Konoha? He almost killed Naruto and knocked me out when he broke my ribs."

Tsunade turned to the brunette. "Kakashi. I was able to reach him via messenger hawk the second day Sasuke defected. With Pakkun's help he found you two just as Sasuke was preparing to leave. It also helped that you two injured him before you were incapacitated. He might have escaped were it not for you and Naruto."

Tenten was able to hold her head a little higher after hearing that news. She had been in time to help Naruto after all. If she hadn't arrived she was sure the blond might have received a more serious injury if his reluctant attitude at the time was any proof. Naruto remained quiet the rest of the way. Sakura kept casting concerned sideways glances his way until the brunette's glare caught her eyes instead, at which point she huffed and turned away. The three genin stopped at the long white hallway that greeted them. Several doors lined the area along with at least a dozen ANBU. Tsunade kept a business-like pace throughout the walk with the other four in tow. Eventually they reached a door where a lone ANBU stood, his weasel mask covering his face. The Godaime turned to the younger three.

"He's been fitted with chakra absorbent shackles. He isn't a threat but don't antagonize him. I'm only doing this so that one of you can maybe talk some sense into him. If not, he may be executed."

The bomb that Tsunade so haphazardly dropped on the other two members of team seven shocked them into silence. Sakura slowly nodded her head in understanding but Naruto, because of his lack of control, almost began yelling at the older woman. Tenten's grip tightening around his neck prevented that from happening. Instead a slight choking sound emanated from Naruto's mouth before he put the brunette down and threw Tsunade a glare. The ANBU moved aside when the blond almost shoved him himself, his growl audible as he continued inside and shut the door loudly.

* * *

Sasuke was chained to the far wall by the shackles Tsunade had spoken of. He was in as much if not more bandages than Naruto. The bonds were long enough for him to have some freedom of movement but not enough for him to reach the door in the small room. His knees were drawn to his chest, his head down. A bowl of food sat to his left, though there was hardly anything in it at all. The blond moved closer to his teammate and took a seat only about five feet from him. Naruto knew Sasuke could easily reach out and attack him even with the shackles, but he highly doubted he would.

"I told you I'd bring your ass back."

Sasuke remained quiet in front of him. His only answer was to shift a little, the baggy clothes he was given falling slightly from his frame. Naruto's eyebrows knit at the silent answer. He was expecting more out of the Uchiha.

"Anything to say? Maybe about how sorry you are that you left me and Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned.

A murmur was all that came from the raven haired boy. He slowly rose his head, dark circles under his eyes. "I failed," was all he said.

Naruto grunted. "Damn right you did. You weren't going to break our bond teme."

"No! If I can't defeat you then there's no way I can beat him! I failed...I'll never be strong enough."

Naruto growled. "Is that what this is about! You're already strong, or did you forget that Katon jutsu you almost killed me with when we fought?"

"It's not enough," Sasuke ground out. "He's too powerful. I won't get better if I stay here and he'll kill me. Just like he did the rest of our clan."

Naruto grabbed him by his collar, dragging the Uchiha closer. To hell with not antagonizing him, this was how they interacted. "Is that all you care about! What about us? Do you think Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, or me would let him just walk up and kill you? That we wouldn't defend you? Damnit Sasuke!" He threw the sharingan wielder toward the wall he was shackled to, but Sasuke caught his footing before he impacted.

"I don't need your help!"

"Stop lying to yourself! Who do you think would do better against your brother right now, me or you?"

A pang went through Sasuke's chest. He bared his teeth and lunged toward the blond in that instant. However, because of the shackles, his movements were slower and Naruto was able to catch his hands. They were at a stalemate, though the blond was not using his full strength. It would be unfair to the raven haired boy in front of him who was bound to the wall. "Shut up Naruto! You don't know anything!"

"I know he's strong," Naruto replied. "Probably stronger than Orochimaru. Do you really think you could beat him by yourself? He killed your entire clan Sasuke!"

"I told you to shut up!"

"Sasuke-kun?"

Both boys faltered at the unexpected interruption. Sakura calmly walked over to them while they were still grasping each others arms. Without the sharingan wielder's permission she lifted up the baggy shirt he was currently wearing and started smoothing her hands over the bandages covering his abdomen. The red hue on the Sasuke's face was priceless but the same shade made it's way on to Naruto's as she did an identical 'check up' on him. They both jumped away from each other and faced opposite walls as Sakura took a seat next to where the blond was standing.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto, you shouldn't be hurting each other. We're on the same team and you both were just treated." Sakura was doing her best to keep down the blush that was slowly rising in her face. Tsunade sent her in because of the amount of yelling coming from the room. She had acted on impulse when she performed her mini-examination on both boys. Shizune told her it would become an automatic response in time but she hadn't expected it to be so soon.

"It's his fault Sakura-chan! He thinks he doesn't need us. Somebody has to knock some sense into him."

"Tch," was Sasuke's response.

Sakura shook her head. It was just like old times. "Is that true Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke grunted. "You'd just get in the way."

"The hell we would! You know you need us!"

Sasuke ignored him, resuming his place from when the blond came in the room. His lowered his eyes, refusing to look at his two teammates. He didn't need this. He needed to get out of here. Spending more time with anyone from his team would only make it harder to leave, no matter how much he tried to tell himself otherwise. Naruto put his hands behind his head. He leaned until his back hit the wall.

"You know, Sakura-chan is getting stronger too. Tsunade-baa-chan is training her now. Pretty soon she'll be stronger than you teme." Sakura's cheeks turned light red at the praise. Sasuke's body tensed up a little. Naruto waved his arm a little more at the curled up Uchiha. He noticed the absence of the weights and how light his body felt. The blond did a couple of test punches in the air. The short amount of time he had worn the weights seemed to have paid off.

Sakura waved her hand in front of her face. "I-I'm not that strong yet. I still have a long way to go before I'm as strong as Sasuke-kun."

Naruto scoffed. "He's not that strong. I wasn't even trying when I brought his sorry ass back." Naruto cracked one eye open. Sasuke's body was shaking in an attempt to control himself because of the obvious lie.

Though Sakura didn't approve of the way Naruto was trying to get Sasuke to talk, she couldn't think of any other way. She decided to go along with it if only to try and get back the old raven haired boy that she fell for. "You weren't trying hard when you fought Sasuke-kun? Why didn't you bring him back faster then!"

Naruto smirked at his pink haired teammate. "I wanted us to fight as equals. Gomen Sakura-chan, but if I would have just beat him after a few seconds he's probably be even more depressed than he is now."

Sasuke whipping his head head gained both of their attention. The two were surprised to see that his sharingan was activated, though it faded about ten seconds later. They could only guess that the shackles began sapping chakra as soon as it was molding.

"You're lying," he said.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Your eyes have changed."

"There's a third symbol in them," Sakura added. Sasuke gave them a questioning look when Sakura shyly passed him a compact, blushing all the while. Sasuke snatched the thing away and opened it, only to see his eyes were the same onyx color they always were. He tried to activate his sharingan but the shackles prevented this action. He grunted, putting the thing to the side. Sakura's blush intensified.

_'He's keeping it?'_

"Don't think about leaving again either," Naruto spoke.

"Tsunade-sama said that if you attempted to escape again then...you'll be executed."

Naruto threw the pink haired nin a surprised glance as if the subject she just brought up was taboo. Sasuke's mind went still. Though he should have expected it, the shock stayed with him nonetheless. If he was executed what would become of the Uchiha clan? His two goals in life were to kill his brother and rebuild his clan, both of which were unattainable if he wasn't living. Itachi sure as hell wouldn't bring their clan back then go kill himself and even that wouldn't be the same. For the first time since their visit, Naruto and Sakura saw the raven haired boy actually take in what was said to him.

"We wouldn't let them though," Naruto disrupted the silence. "Even if we had to go to hell and back not to." Sakura nodded beside him in agreement.

He remained silent. Seeing that the raven haired boy had a lot on his mind, Sakura motioned for the blond to follow her outside. Ten seconds of yelling and a bop on the head later they opened the door to reveal a positevely irate looking Tenten along with their sensei, who calmly walked by them. Kakashi laid a hand of thanks on Naruto's shoulder as he entered the room. His eye smile was the last thing each member of team 7 saw of him before Tsunade motioned for them to follow her.

Back in the Hokage's office the three genin took seats across from Tsunade. "So?"

Naruto grunted. "He's still an ass."

Sakura cleared her throat. "What Naruto means is, Sasuke-kun didn't say anything about what he wanted to do. I don't even think he knows."

Tsunade sighed. "I didn't put much faith in what he would have told you two anyway. My decision will depend on what Kakashi and Anko tell me. Unfortunately, Anko is on a mission right now and won't be back for at least a week. Aside from that, Naruto, Tenten, in two weeks you will escort the Volcano village girl back to her home. It'll be B ranked."

"Baa-chan, we'll be able to go see him again right? We still need to talk to him." Tenten nodded beside him.

"Hai. I will make it a point to let you two know that Sasuke will not get off free even if he chooses to stay in Konoha. At the least he'll be confined to prison."

"How long?" Sakura asked.

Tsunade shrugged her shoulders while pulling out a bottle of sake. "Usually, defected nin's would get death. A prison sentence would probably be equal to life, especially after almost killing one of our fellow shinobi."

"He's not-" The blond started.

"However," Tsunade interrupted. "Given the fact that then shinobi he nearly killed wants him to remain alive, it's not the usual case. Also, if Sasuke knows anything about Orochimaru and tells us, his sentence may be reduced. I'm still not sure on the matter. The most weighed factors will be Kakashi and Anko, along with a meeting between Sasuke and myself. You're fortunate I'm going this far for one genin so no complaining." Naruto closed his mouth.

"Arigatou Tsunade-sama" Sakura bowed.

"Hai Hai. Sakura, you're dismissed. There's something I need to discuss with these two."

Sakura cast a curious look Naruto's way before departing. Tsunade performed a few hand seals, then touched the wall behind her. There was no noticeable change within the room but the Godaime's relaxed expression told them two otherwise. She took a generous swig of the bottles contents, then pinned Tenten with a serious expression. The brunette shifted nervously under her gaze until she spoke.

"Has he told you?"

Tenten nodded slowly. "Hai. It's hard to believe..."

"It's also an S class secret. I hope his trust in you isn't misplaced."

"Ten-chan wouldn't tell anyone Baa-chan. She already promised." Naruto vouched for the brunette.

Tsunade's raised eyebrow puzzled Naruto. His attempt to get answers out of Tenten failed because of her flushed face. Embarrassed stuttering was all that escaped her, so he turned back to Tsunade who seemed very amused at the moment. The Godaime's mouth was partially covered by her hand to muffle the giggle that was coming.

"I see. Remember though, revealing this secret will result in dire consequences."

"Hai, she knows Baa-chan. Can we go now? It's been forever and I since I've had any ramen!"

Tsunade smirked. The shooing motion she made with her hand immediately prompted Naruto to gather Tenten on his back and run out the door. The two whizzed by an open mouth Jiraiya and through the double doors out the lobby. Tenten's mind was abuzz with thoughts as they raced to the small ramen stand, most centered on how casually Naruto mentioned his nickname for her. It shouldn't mean anything, they were only becoming good friends.

"Three bowls of beef Ayame-nee-chan!"

The brunette hadn't even noticed that they arrived. She ordered the same and began taking casual glances around the stand. There was no one else in the many stools that occupied the small stand. Naruto captured her attention with a yell of 'Itadakimasu' as he nearly dove into his ramen. Tenten started on her food almost as eagerly when it arrived, though it was some time before she finished. The curtain flap opened to admit the Toad sannin a few minutes later, a clearly irritated look on his face.

"Finally! Hurry up and eat! We have things to do!"

Naruto mumbled something unintelligible through a mouth full of ramen. Jiraiya waited patiently until the boy swallowed and finished the bowl's contents. "What are you talking about Ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya resisted the urge to grab the boy by the collar and drag him off. This was one of the reasons he didn't want to take the blond in the first place. "Just hurry up. We have things to do."

Naruto shrugged. "Is it going to last all day? I have to see teme before it gets late."

"That depends on you. Now let's go."

Naruto made a move to pick Tenten up. Jiraiya cleared his throat rather loudly, stopping the blond. "Just you. Tenten should be fine getting home right?"

Tenten smiled at the blond. "Sure, I'll be fine. See you tonight?"

Naruto grinned. "Of course! See you tonight Ten-chan!" He enveloped her in a hug before leaving. The brunette was too stunned to return it before they walked off. She did, however, let a small smile show while she turned back to the counter. A girlish sigh above her attracted her attention. Ayame stood, chin resting in her hands, a dreamy expression on her face.

"You're lucky to have someone. Especially someone like him. He's always so happy and caring," The ramen waitress said.

Tenten stayed silent for a moment, then offered the woman a kind smile. "Hai. I guess I am."

Ayame let out another sigh. "If only he were a little older..."

The female Ichiraku let that statement go unfinished as she walked into the back of the stand, humming pleasantly. A small twinge went through Tenten's chest at the comment, hints of anger rising stomach. The weapons kunoichi quelled that feeling, paid, and left the stand in the direction of the hospital. When she arrived she immediately checked the chart beside the counter, ignoring the nurse's protests, and made a beeline toward Neji's room. After going through numerous corridors and three wrong rooms she found it.

Tenten took a few seconds to mentally prepare herself to see her teammate's condition, then opened the door. Neji was nearly still in the bed, his chest elevating at different intervals. Needles and IV's were around stuck in his arms. The heart monitor informed her that his heartbeat was as steady as his breathing. A wave of releif passed over Tenten when his eyes slowly started to open.

Neji felt like poo. Though a different term would be fitting for the aches and pains his body was experiencing, the hyuuga prodigy rarely used those words. Not even in his mind. He slowly cracked open one eye, painfully. Tenten's face made itself known through all the blurs and mismatched shapes. However, it wasn't the Tenten he was used to seeing. Instead, for some reason or another (he would attribute it to imagination and fatigue later) she was wearing exactly what he had seen her in not three days ago when they were searching for Naruto.

Tenten immediately hit the call button next to Neji bed when his heart rate skyrocketed. He seemed to have come down with a fever in that instant if his flushed face and nosebleed was any indication. He was still conscious, which Tenten was extremely grateful for. Until she leaned over to meet his check his temperature, unintentionally giving him a close up with her upper body. In those few seconds she thought the heart monitor would explode because of the ridiculous number of beeps coming from it. Afterward, it gradually returned to normal, but Neji had passed out.

The nurse that rushed in a few seconds later told her nothing was wrong with the hyuuga prodigy. Fortunately, neither of them noticed the lump protruding from under Neji's blankets as he enjoyed a blissful rest, a smile on his features.

* * *

"What are we doing here Ero-sennin?"

Naruto stood with his arms crossed in the middle of some training ground. Jiraiya palmed the blond's head, ruffling his hair at the same time. Naruto let out a grunt of annoyance when the toad sannin pulled his hand back. His face was serious when it met the blond's. He exhaled.

"What do you remember about Akatsuki?"

His face scrunched up. "Those guys that are after the kyuubi?"

"Hai. They're moving in a few months, but we'll talk about that later. After weighing my options and seeing how much time I have, I decided to attempt to teach you a jutsu. We can't have Sasuke beating up on you all the time right?"

Naruto huge grin guaranteed that he didn't even hear the jab. "Really Ero-sennin! What is it?"

Jiraiya smirked at his enthusiasm. "That depends on you."

* * *

**It was supposed to be a short chapter!**

***Sigh***

**Anyway hope you enjoyed it. Rest assured, Naruto will not be powered up . I felt he should learn on jutsu at least, but as of right now I don't think he needs any more. Enjoy the fluff? Hope so. Kinda the point in this story. :)**

**Next update will be a while seeing as I still need to update "Waterfall Encounter" **

**For those of you who reviewed chapter ten before I deleted the authors note, you wont be able to review this chap. Please leave the review for another chapter and I will understand (maybe nine if you didn't review like I asked) or a PM will be the same if you've review all chapters (which I'm extremely grateful for).**

**Lastly, I did change the last line in this chapter for those who are wondering. Mainly because of my own impulsiveness and lack of thought. Please visit my profile for more info, though there isn't too much. More like a plea for help.**

**Review/Critique**


	11. Taking Action

**Hey Guys**

**Sorry to give those a heart attack who thought this was That Special Someone. I'm just re-uploading all of the chapters I have for my other stories. I do have about one-fourth of Letters of Love done (2,500 words) but I'm still trying to figure out how I want the chapter to be structured. I'm also putting in scene breaks for all previous chapters of my stories. **

**For those of you who remember that I can't use 0's as scene breaks anymore, I also can't put a exclamation and question mark next to each other to express that emotion anymore. I think it's a problem with this site's document manager. I'll be sending them a question about that.  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer: You think I own Naruto? You must be crazy then.**

Naruto's eyes sparkled in what had to be the first appraising look he'd ever given Jiraiya.

"You mean you'll teach me any jutsu that I want to learn Ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya placed his hand atop the boy's head to stop his excited bouncing. Inwardly sighing in relief, the toad sannin stared down at the boy, happy he'd surfaced from his sorrowful mood. Though it had been many years since Orochimaru deserted the village in order to gain power and he'd immediately followed, he couldn't help feeling as if on a few weeks had passed. Maybe the strange sense of déjà vu that washed over him like a small wave could be at fault for that. He couldn't help but feel as if Naruto's determination exceeded his own in that aspect even if he did receive help from others. Nevertheless, Jiraiya found he couldn't force back the grin that overtook his face at the blonde's exuberance. He was so much like his father and himself that the older male began to wonder if Minato had been his long lost son.

"Not any jutsu." Jiraiya's comment effectively ceased Naruto's excitement. "You'd be far too destructive with most of the things I know."

Naruto gave the older man an angry pout. "Aww come on Ero-sennin! I've become a lot stronger in the last few months! I even learned to use rasengan!"

The white haired male nodded. "That's true. I'll admit that you've done more than I probably would have been able to at your age. Though there's still one problem with you Naruto."

Naruto gave his sensei a questioning look. "What's that?"

Jiraiya scratched his cheek with his index finger. "Well, actually, there's quite a few problems." The blond glared at him. "The most important of them being your chakra control."

Disbelief flooded Naruto's face. "Chakra control? Ero-sennin you taught me chakra control when I had to learn to walk on water! You said it was one of the hardest types of chakra control exercises!" Suspicion replaced the blonde's previous expression. "You're just trying to get out of training me again aren't you?"

Jiraiya bopped the younger male halfheartedly. "If I was I wouldn't have brought you out here in the first place you ungrateful gaki!" He sighed. "If you don't believe me, I'll show you. What's one jutsu that you'd like to learn?" Naruto's eyes sparkled again. "Something that's not out of your league." The older male warned.

Naruto adopted a thinking expression for all of five seconds. He smiled at the his sensei. Jiraiya allowed his eyebrows to rise in anticipation. "I've seen Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-teme use Gokakyu no jutsu. I'll surprise them with their own attack!"

The toad sannin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Given your reserves, you should be more than capable of doing it. Without the proper chakra control though..." Jiraiya turned ninety degrees so that he face the empty space to the side of them. He went through the hands signs at an average pace so that his pupil could see it before making a circle with his index finger and thumb.

"Gokakyu no jutsu!"

Naruto watched in amazement as a fireball spewed from Jiraiya's hand and soared into the sky. It's size was larger than whatever he'd seen Kakashi or Sasuke release but he assured himself that Jiraiya had just been showing off. He turned toward the other male when the flaming ball could no longer be seen. Jiraiya smirked at his awestruck expression. He made a point to palm the blonde's head one more time in a gloating gesture.

"Maybe now you'll start calling me 'The Great Jiraiya'?" Jiraiya questioned. Naruto crossed his arms but didn't reply, causing his sensei to chuckle.

"Do you remember all the signs?" Naruto nodded dutifully. He raised his hands to begin but the white haired male quickly stopped him. Quickly running about thirty feet behind Naruto, he gave his pupil the signal to start. The blond scowled at him before turning back face the blue sky above them.

_'Horse, Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.'_

"Gokakyu no jutsu!"

* * *

_'Stamp, sign, pass. Stamp, sign, pass. Stamp, sign, pass...'_

Tsunade moved through each paper Shizune sent to her without even reading what they contained. Oddly enough, Shizune chose to ignore this or simply didn't seem to notice. Taking a quick glance at her apprentice, the buxom blond realized she was lost in thought and was merely moving through the motions. Tsunade hid her gleeful smirk in favor of continuing to move through her paperwork at a speed that she'd thought unattainable when Shizune sat near. When the brunette reached for another slip and grasped empty air, she gazed at her hand in confusion.

Tsunade smirked. "Lost in thought?"

Caught off guard, Shizune spluttered something incoherent. She hung her head in defeat. "Hai."

The Godaime rested her chin atop her intertwined fingers. Shizune didn't have a habit of daydreaming.

"Do tell."

Her apprentice cast a wary gaze to the door before turning back to her sensei. "I-It's just all of the things that are happening to Naruto-kun. He's still only a child. If Jiraiya-sama is right about the ninja coming after him all being S-rank nin...it's frightening to think of. Naruto-kun's also taking Sasuke-kun's...situation...pretty hard. He may do something drastic if things don't go his way. "

Tsunade sighed. When she'd told the younger woman about Naruto coming trip with Jiraiya Shizune had simply nodded and told her to start on her paperwork. Evidently, her worry for the boy who had become something of a younger brother to her had bubbled up over her resolve to stay quiet. The brunette silently waited for the Godaime to answer but all she received from the woman was another deep sigh.

Shizune's voice became even more laden with worry. "Doesn't this affect you at all Tsunade-sama?"

The blond sent her apprentice a piercing stare. Shizune fought the urge to hang her head like a scorned child. "Of course it does." Tsunade clenched her stamp tighter. "Jiraiya is training him. If there's anyone I trust to prepare Naruto for what he's going to come up against it's him."

Shizune shifted Tonton in her arms. "I know he'll become strong Tsunade-sama but even Jiraiya-sama couldn't take on half of them by himself. What chance does Naruto have if they all come after him? Or if-"

"Shizune!" Tsunade barked. The brunette jumped and fell back a step. Tonton began shivering in her arms. "Naruto may still be a child but he is a strong and determined ninja. Jiraiya _will _help the boy to become stronger." She paused to take a deep breath. "I'll admit that you're correct. However, if you're that worried about Naruto and you don't seem to understand that _my _worry for him likely exceeds yours by far, then we'll have to do something about it."

By this time Tonton's fearful shivers were matched by the brunette holding it. The bottom of the stamp thumped as it hit the desk. All that remained of the handle was a thin splinter where a few indentations Tsunade's fingers could be seen.

"D-D-Do s-something a-about it?" Shizune stammered.

Tsunade stood and nodded. She strode toward the double doors and eventually outside the Hokage tower at a brisk pace, nearly leaving behind her apprentice. When Shizune finally caught up to her master her questioning look was ignored by the older woman. She knew Tsunade used her worry for Naruto as a cover up for her own and would likely blame whatever she was planning on the brunette's nagging tendencies but Shizune could care less as long as it helped Naruto. She still wanted to know what her master had planned though.

_'BOOM!'_

Shizune's head snapped backwards toward the Hokage tower where the explosion seemed to come from. It was about a quarter mile from the tower where the nearest training ground was located. The brunette turned back to the Godaime to see a smirk on her features. She thought it better to keep quiet and wait for Tsunade to speak, even when another resounding 'boom' echoed around the area five minutes later. Those people that they did walk past instantly calmed when they noticed Tsunade's unworried expression and went about their business. Shizune released a breath when they stopped in front of a familiar home.

The girl sleepily rubbed her eyes when the door opened. Apparently Tsunade had already knocked. The pinkette surprised expression arose when she realized who sat on her doorstep. "Tsunade-sama? Shizune-senpai?"

The Godaime frowned. "Sleeping in the middle of the day Sakura?"

Sakura instantly awoke and righted her posture. "It was just a nap! I was a bit tired after-"

"It's fine," Tsunade interrupted. "I assume you didn't have anything planned for the rest of the day?" Sakura shook her head quickly. "Good. We're going to the fourteenth training ground for some training."

"Hai!" Sakura saluted.

Tsunade's business-like facade didn't fade. Sakura did a one-eighty to head back inside and get dressed. The pinkette became alarmed and confused when her feet left the floor and she watched her home grow farther and farther away. She threw a surprised glance over her shoulder to see Tsunade had effortlessly picked her up by the back of her striped pink and white pajamas like she would a piece of luggage. The villagers that were out caused her face to flame in embarrassment when they laughed quietly at her predicament. Shizune threw an apologetic look behind the Godaime to the pinkette.

It felt like an eternity before they stopped at yet another house. Tsunade knocked politely on the door and waited. The new voice that filled the air caused Sakura to scowl.

"Tsunade-sama?"

"Why does everyone act as if this is the hour to sleep at?" Tsunade sighed out. She looked down at Tenten's green clad frame.

The blond Hokage shifted Sakura. "Do you have anything planned for the rest of the day?"

Tenten brushed a stray hair behind her ear. "I-I was going to make dinner for Naruto when he finishes training. I like to be comfortable when I cook," She defended.

Tsunade waved her hand in dismissal. "Forget about that. We have something important to do."

Tenten stammered a bit before doing an identical salute to Sakura's earlier one. Shizune had to fight a giggle when Tsunade used her unoccupied arm to throw the brunette over her shoulder, invoking a cry of surprise from the female genin. It was only then that Tenten could see pink hair near the Godaime's upper arm. She scowled in perfect time to see Sakura's own scowl leveled on her. The older women were oblivious to this exchange. Tsunade moved her stare to her apprentice.

"Shizune."

The Godaime's calm unnerved her apprentice a bit. "H-Hai?"

Tsunade motioned toward the Hokage tower. "Take us to the fourteenth training ground." Shizune opened her mouth to protest but the older woman continued. "Now. My hands are full."

Sighing in defeat, Shizune put a hand on her mistress' shoulder and made the appropriate hand sign. Neither Tenten nor Sakura could protest or ask a question as they were whisked away at a speed they'd never felt before. None of the other kunoichi caught sight of the Godaime's serious expression momentarily disappearing to be replaced by a confident smirk.

* * *

Jiraiya ducked in perfect time for the blond to fly over his head for the third time. The crack that signified that the tree's bark had been substantially damaged echoed around the area. The Toad sannin let out a low whistle in wonder at the distance before walking over to the blond. Naruto sat against the wood, his hands clutching the back of his head and silently cursing to himself. Jiraiya took his time getting over to the boy more out of caution that he'd attempt the jutsu again than anything else. Upon getting closer and inspecting the condition of his pupil he could clearly see the burns along his hand already healing.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Done trying to outdo your sensei?"

The blond stood up slowly, growling audibly as he did so. "I wasn't trying to-"

"You put everything you could into the jutsu and didn't even bother to direct the chakra in the right direction." He scorned. Naruto made an uncaring sound as he lifted his hands again to begin making the signs. Instead of bopping his student on the head because this obviously hadn't been working, Jiraiya chose a different course of action.

"Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

It took the blond genin half a second to realize that he had still been making the signs and thus couldn't have made the call. The next half of the full second he spent jumping out of the way of the fireball that almost burned the hair from the back of his skull. Unfortunately Naruto hadn't been able to make enough distance between himself and the jutsu given the short distance between he and his sensei, resulting in the angry red hole that now sat in the middle of his jacket. He threw the older male a dirty look but Jiraiya only grinned at him.

"Since there's no other way to pound it into that thick skull of yours," He started, still grinning. "I thought that we could turn this into a game. You have until sunset to pull off your first successful katon jutsu. And if you manage to hit me with it..." Jiraiya bent down until his eyes were level with those of his charge in order to add his extra incentive. "...I'll cover your ramen expenses for an entire year."

Naruto's expression immediately gave way to the challenging and determined smirk that Jiraiya had come to recognize as the exact same as his own. His put his hand out for the older make to shake it but then hurriedly withdrew it. The blond murmured something to himself.

Jiraiya knocked on the boy's head in a playful manner. "Naruto? Was the shock too much?"

Naruto pushed his hand away. Then, without warning, he turned and started running back in the direction of his apartment. Jiraiya raised a hand to the blond but he continued running, calling something over his shoulder that the white haired male strained to hear. The only thing Jiraiya could make out was the word 'witness'. Without anything else to do for the moment, he sat and started reading over the latest edition of Icha Icha. When the blond returned he held a blushing brunette in his arms. Jiraiya couldn't help the perverse grin that surfaced on his face or the urge to clap Naruto's back proudly.

The toad sannin smiled widely. "Who's your friend gaki?"

Naruto put the girl down. "This is Kyuuka-nee-chan. She has an unnatural affinity for katon jutsu and I thought since we're already working on chakra control and jutsu..."

"...That you'd bring someone else along," Jiraiya finished lamely. "How foolish of me to think that you'd finally acquired a girlfriend," he deadpanned.

Naruto glared at him while Kyuuka only looked on in confusion, a faint hue of red staining her face. "That's not important right now. Kyuuka-nee-chan, show us that katon jutsu that you know." The blond grinned. "I want to see how cool it is."

The older male didn't miss the brunette's eyes falling at the honorific that Naruto bestowed upon her before lifting. He fought oncoming sigh and turned to the girl.

"Katon: Houkayubi no Jutsu," She answered.

Jiraiya nodded. He motioned for the brunette to perform the jutsu but she took several cautious steps back before stopping. After taking a rough measurement of the distance with her eyes, she began making signs. The toad sannin kept a straight face throughout all of this, though a large part of him doubted that the jutsu would actually have the reach of the twelve feet she put between them. All the while Naruto watched quietly. His curiosity of her potential with katon jutsu waited to be sated.

_'Horse, tiger'_

"Houkayubi no jutsu."

Naruto wouldn't have been able to hear the jutsu she'd performed if he hadn't know what to expect. Her whispered proclamation had to be paid acute attention to. However, despite the fact that she didn't shout the jutsu like most ninja chose to, he and his sensei still stood, mouths agape, at the large flame that burst from her index finger that easily towered over the two males. Jiraiya estimated it to be at least five feet in the air. A shocking height given that the flame was intended to be a few inches at best. Kyuuka did her best to hold her right hand as far away from her body as possible to prevent turning herself into the wax that kept her flame burning. The volcano village girl released the jutsu, letting out a ragged breath and struggling to stay on her feet as she did. The blond flashed to her side a second later, brightened smile and all, to help support her.

Jiraiya fanned himself. He wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to the girl, a wary look on his face. "What village do you come from?"

Kyuuka steadied herself against the blond. "The Volcano village. It's-"

The toad sannin raised his hand. "I know where it is." Jiraiya let his weight fall against the tree beside him. "You're a very special girl. It's not too often that someone is gifted with an ability like yours. The only problem is that it completely drained most of the chakra you had. That's why you can hardly stand right now."

Kyuuka nodded wearily. Jiraiya continued.

"Chakra control will help you remove a good amount of the chakra going into the jutsu, but the majority of it will still be there. The only solution to this problem that I can think of is for you to gain more chakra. Unfortunately, that's a process that can take months, maybe even a few years." Jiraiya leveled his serious gaze on the girl. "That's only if this is something you want to do."

The brunette regulated her breathing and stood upright. " I do. If it's possible for me to perform katon jutsu like the rest of the people in my village, I'd do anything."

Jiraiya smirked. "In order to gain more chakra, you have to nearly all the chakra you possess and wait for it to come back. Your coils will get exercise this way by drawing all the chakra it can back to your system, each time drawing more. It's an extremely exhaustive process and a lengthy one, so I suggest you do it with someone else supervising. For now, the only jutsu you know should be sufficient in depleting all but a small bit of your chakra, but as they grow you'll have to use jutsu that take a bit more chakra."

Naruto watched the girl beside him give a nod of affirmation. She fell against him soon after, breathing heavily once again. Jiraiya motioned for him to lay the girl against the tree trunk, noting that she'd passed out before the blond could. Smirking to himself, the toad sannin cleared his voice. Naruto faced his outstretched hand when he moved his gaze to his sensei. The blond appeared to hesitate for a moment, during which Jiraiya's brows twitched in annoyance, before reaching for his hand.

"Jiraiya-sama!"

Both males turned to see Shizune waving to them from across the clearing. Naruto's eyes lit up as she came closer, particularly because of the person alongside her who strode purposefully toward the older male. Before they could make it over Naruto sprinted to them and began dragging Tsunade back toward his sensei. The Godaime frowned at the sight of the healing skin the burns Naruto received had caused upon arriving.

"Okay Ero-sennin, tell me the bet again."

Jiraiya palmed his face, completely missing the questioning look given to him by his old teammate. "You forgot? Sometimes I wonder why-"

"Ero-sennin!"

The older male cleared his throat. "If you manage to hit me with a katon jutsu by sunset I'll cover your ramen expenses for a year."

"Deal!" Naruto shouted as he grasped the older male's hand and shook it vigorously. "Did you hear that Baa-chan? An entire year!"

Jiraiya paled when he looked the current Hokage. Though it was probably her responsibility to make sure that all legal matters and deals were to be seen to correctly, he knew that Tsunade would make sure that he'd follow through on his promise should Naruto succeed regardless of that. Her closeness to Naruto wouldn't let her do otherwise. This was all putting aside the fact that she liked to see him suffer, or so he assumed. Jiraiya grinned once more, waggling his eyebrows at Tsunade as he did, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Sunset's coming gaki. Better hurry," Jiraiya's voice resounded around the clearing.

Naruto made to take off after the older male but two heavy 'thump' noises caused him to stare back at his surrogate sister/mother to find Sakura and Tenten both rubbing their bottoms tenderly. The blond threw a curios look to the oldest woman. She waved it off, then turned a heated gaze to the two on the ground. Shizune gently pushed Naruto the opposite way, reminding him that he only had a few hours at best if he wanted catch the toad sannin. Reluctantly, the blond sprinted into the trees, raising up a bit of dust in the process. With that done, she put a hand on her mistress' shoulder to stop her from scaring the two kunoichi beneath her out of their skin.

"You two," Tsunade started. "Are not at the level that you need to be."

Sakura wilted a bit. "We just started training Tsunade-sama," she explained.

Tsunade knit her brows. "I know that. Shizune , however, doesn't believe that you will be adequate teammates for Naruto in the future. With Jiraiya's training, he'll grow strong, but even with it Naruto won't be able to handle everything." Tsunade chose her words carefully. It was a bit difficult to sidestep the issue of the Akatsuki being the ones hunting Naruto. Shizune's frown was ignored by the buxom blond.

"In that case he'll need skilled teammates and seeing as Sasuke is currently unable to do so, I'm putting you three in a secondary three man cell."

"A secondary cell?" The two girls echoed. They glared at each other.

"Hai. Starting today, I'll be training the both of you in whatever way I see fit. To start, we'll have a spar to check where you two are in taijutsu. Sakura, unlike our usual training sessions you'll be required to fight back, not just evade. Who wants to go first?"

A nervous air quickly fell around the two kunoichi. They toyed with their toes and blades of grass in the few precious seconds they had to make a decision. Hesitantly, Sakura made to stand up but Tenten leaped to her feet before the pinkette could. Tsunade led the brunette over to an area a good distance away from Shizune and Sakura, saying nothing as she did. Tenten dropped into her fighting stance and donned a wary expression when Tsunade slipped into one she had yet to see. Sakura jumped when Shizune yelled the command to start.

The brunette rushed at her opponent. Tenten jumped toward Tsunade, who still hadn't moved, and reached behind her to grab something she wasn't expecting. Air. Her face grew fearful when Tsunade sprouted a smirk.

Sakura winced at the knee that sent Tenten crashing to the ground. The brunette rolled several yards before gaining enough awareness to switch the momentum to her feet. It hurt more than she'd predicted. This was likely due to the fact that she didn't have any shoes on. Tsunade landed long ago and stood tapping the toe of her shoes against the ground. As if making a decision, she began taking them off leisurely, sock and all. The Godaime ducked the kick aimed at head, took off her sock, caught the follow up kick from the brunette, and threw her back to her starting point. Tenten flipped expertly and landed on her toes to start another rush at Tsunade.

The blond tossed her first shoe behind her carelessly, then started on her second. This time, seeing as the Godaime only stood on one foot; the brunette went for a sweep kick. Tsunade peeled the second shoe off. She glanced at the brunette and started working on the sock again. Tenten grinned when she realized that the older woman couldn't possibly avoid her in time. The kick connected, but the blond remained standing. Tsunade didn't so much as buckle under the force the younger girl applied to it. She glared down at Tenten who felt fear strike her heart in that moment.

"I'm not your team. When I say spar, I mean you'd better go all out if you don't want to be crushed."

Regaining rein over her speeding heart, the brunette rolled backwards into a back-spring to get on her feet. Her eyes caught the shadow above her and identified it as her opponent, her leg positioned perfectly for the coming axe kick. Tenten immediately brought her forearms up to block, but the Godaime's smirk only widened at this. It was then the brunette remembered who she was sparring with.

_'Oh crap'_

_

* * *

_

Naruto ran after the head of white hair not too far ahead of him. He briefly wondered why his sensei was growing closer because he knew Jiraiya speed was greater than his. Convincing himself that whatever the older male had planned would be no good for him if he kept running forward, he made a kage bunshin to take his place and took a detour. The blond didn't miss the fact that he was faster now as he rushed through the trees, taking time to weave in and out in a childish challenge of his current speed level. When he caught sight of Jiraiya again he was already on the toad sannin's side. He grinned.

Jiraiya turned to look over his shoulder at his pupil. His eyes briefly darted to his peripheral but the imperceptible movement could hardly be noticed. The blond in front of him stopped and waited but the white haired male didn't make a move. His eyebrows rose when four additional blonds joined the first. Jiraiya's ears twitched at the sound of greenery rustling all around him. The sound of sandals upon wood also signified that he'd been completely surrounded. Jiraiya tapped his foot in mock impatience at the bunshin's lack of making a move. All the blonde's grinned at the same time before raising their hands and making signs. Jiraiya's eyes widened.

_'He wouldn't...'_

"Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

The following explosions shook the landscape and blew several pieces of wood in numerous directions. Needless to say, Jiraiya assumed Naruto had hoped to at least succeed in the jutsu once with all of his kage bunshin but they all failed miserably. A few hints of fire could be seen but nothing to put the forest in danger given the cool temperature outside. The toad sannin gazed around cautiously, vision obscured by the smoke remains of the bunshin. He barely made out the bright blue glow coming from his north and south directions. The white haired male jumped upward, likely into another trap, to avoid the two rasengan.

Jiraiya expertly caught the punch outside the smoke and kicked off his pupil to head in another direction. The bunshin disappeared as he made his departure again but he didn't get far before Naruto flew at him with another rasengan. Jiraiya barely caught the boy's forearm and stopped the attack from connecting with his face.

"Must have wasted a lot of chakra huh gaki? All those katon jutsu had to be hard on you," Jiraiya goaded.

Naruto growled. "I'm not done yet!"

Jiraiya chuckled, then gasped as he felt something tear into the back of his top. Naruto grinned at the surprised look on his sensei's face but quickly frowned when his opponent was replaced by a log a second later. His eyes scanned the clearing but it was obvious Jiraiya had already made his retreat. The thought that the legendary a sannin had run away from him made Naruto's chest swell with pride...until he felt a hard blow to his back that sent him into a nearby tree. The blond applied chakra to his feet to avoid a rather painful landing. Jiraiya stood above him with nothing but his chain mail on. His top floated to the ground slowly, ripped a good amount from the rasengan that connected with it. Naruto did likewise, removing his burnt jacket in favor of his black undershirt. The two smirked at each other.

"You're a little faster,' Jiraiya commented. "I almost didn't avoid that. Maybe I should stop playing around with you gaki."

Naruto scoffed. "Maybe you should. Unless you want Baa-chan to make you buy me ramen for an entire year!" The blond pumped his fist in the air in excitement.

Instead of replying Jiraiya sprinted off into the trees at a pace that Naruto easily matched. The toad sannin slowly increased his speed little by little until he could see his pupil starting to fall behind a bit. Hands still behind him, Jiraiya slipped four explosive kunai from his sleeves and ran ahead of his pupil, dropping them as he did. Naruto, being as keen as ever, kept running toward the kunai as if they bore no threat to him at all. The older male shook his head in exasperation and watched the four explosions consume the blond. He'd assumed the boy would have at least jumped or showed some indication that he knew the kunai were tagged. The sound of footsteps quickly put Jiraiya back on guard.

Naruto ran out of the black cloud with a little more than a few burns and scrapes, rasengan in hand. Jiraiya's made a few signs with a confident smirk on while the blond continued to sprint at him.

"Doryu Taga no jutsu!"

The surprise on Naruto's face as well as the mud he slipped on, earning him a rough landing on his ass, made the toad sannin guffaw uncontrollably for a few seconds. The coolness that stemmed from the sun being blocked snapped him back to his senses. The Naruto in the mud had long since disappeared. Jiraiya expertly moved away from the flying kick coming from midair. Naruto threw a flurry of mixed punches at the sannin but they all proved futile until Jiraiya had enough and kicked the boy back. The older male watched his pupil float upside down in the air facing away from him until the blond flipped completely, his index and thumb fingers in a perfect circle.

_"Control the chakra...Control the chakra..."_

"Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

The assumed explosion was the cue for the toad sannin to close his eyes and palm his head. The following feeling that his body continually was approaching an uncomfortable source of heat prompted his instincts to kick in. He dodged the oncoming average sized fireball by inches. It sailed through the trees until colliding with a one, nearly toppling the poor thing. Jiraiya performed a suiton jutsu to put out the flaming tree before turning back to his student. Naruto chuckled to himself while rising slowly, his challenging smirk back in place.

"Almost got you that time Ero-sennin...I can smell my free ramen!" The blond declared.

Jiraiya chuckled to himself. "You still put too much into the jutsu but had enough control for it to not completely backfire. It won't be useful on a mission if you don't master it."

Naruto made several kage bunshin to answer his sensei's comment. Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully before giving Naruto a peace sign and disappearing in a swirl of leaves. The blond cursed under his breath and looked at the sky. Sunset would be approaching in the next half hour at best.

* * *

The earth beneath the Godaime's foot had crumbled under the mighty attack she unleashed upon it. Their surroundings now resembled a crater that one might think a meteor or jounin level jutsu caused. Sakura felt a chill run up her spin at having to go against her sensei all out. In their training sessions the woman rarely ever used her impressive strength; most times only to demonstrate what the damage the perfectly timed release of chakra was capable of. When she could see clearly again she gasped. Tenten had avoided the fatal axe kick that Tsunade attempted to deliver but the brunette's leg and a few rocks were currently involved in a struggle Sakura didn't think she'd be breaking anytime soon. Tsunade advanced on her opponent at a leisurely pace until she directly over the younger girl.

Tsunade knew that there was no use in continuing the sparring match if Tenten couldn't move. She wasn't one to beat an opponent senseless when they couldn't defend themselves and it'd hardly solve anything at this point. Just as she opened her mouth Tenten's leg lifted itself from its stone entrapment as if it hadn't ever been immobilized there. Tsunade's only choice was to lean back as fast as possible to absorb the blow from the brunette's knee to her chin. The blond backed up several feet but was back on Tenten in a matter of a few seconds. The brunette dodged the overhead punch and her blond opponent blocked the shot to her ribs easily. Tenten pushed her fear down in favor of smirking up at the Godaime.

Tsunade remained stoic as she pushed Tenten's fist through it normal range of motion so that the girl's back was to her. Tenten winced when she jumped backward over the Godaime to avoid her legs being knocked out from under her, kicking off of Tsunade's upper back to gain some distance between herself and her opponent. Tsunade speed allowed her to grab the brunette's right leg as soon as she kicked off. Tenten seemed to expect this. She brought her foot back to kick the blond, something not possible at that distance. Though at that moment Tsunade caught sight of the seals one the inside of the girl's pajama pants. She dropped the brunette and jumped away just in time to avoid the shuriken and kunai that were where she had been standing.

The blond Hokage analyzed the younger girl. She didn't appear to be too tired but her ankle had clearly been hurt. At the least she had to have twisted it but she didn't seem to care about it. Her weight lay mostly on the right side of her body. The pants leg the kunai and shuriken were released from were ripped because of the metal weapons. Tsunade put one hand up to signal the end of the spar and beckoned Sakura to come over. Tenten gingerly sat down on the soft grass to avoid further harm to her injured appendage. The other three women were soon sitting down in a square pattern near her. Shizune pat her shoulder gently.

"You did well Tenten-chan. I didn't expect you to land a blow on Tsunade-sama," The darker haired woman commented.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "I let my guard down. More importantly, explain what happened at the beginning. Sakura, start healing her leg."

The pinkette jumped to attention. Shizune hid her surprise well. She supposed Tsunade could fix any additional damage the pinkette accidentally caused but it would be an uncomfortable experience for Tenten. Said brunette blushed lightly in embarrassment before answering.

"I've sewn seals into my clothing to keep some sort of weapon on me at all times. It took a lot of time to learn to direct my chakra to them intentionally so I wouldn't accidentally skew myself. I...kinda forgot that the windmill shuriken attached is attached to the back of my other pajamas..." Her face heated up again.

"Very good strategy," Tsunade began. "I'd say high genin to low chuunin level in terms of taijutsu. In your file it says you don't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. I'd like to know why," she finished.

Tenten toyed with the grass beneath her. "I've never really-Ite! Is it supposed to burn?" Sakura scowled. Her eyes focused more intently on the brunette's ankle until the soothing warmth returned. "As I was saying, I've never really liked them. Ninjutsu have to be prepared with hand signs and genjutsu seems like a cheap trick to me. You never really have to do anything with it other than hypnotize your opponent and move on. I prefer the direct approach," The brunette explained.

Tsunade passed her own green aura over Tenten's appendage once Sakura finished. She gave an approving nod to her apprentice who sighed in relief. Inner Sakura pumped her fist in the air to celebrate. "I'll expect you to make up for the two areas you're lacking in by advancing in both taijutsu and kenjutsu. I'll look into getting someone for your weapon training. Gai can teach you all you need to know for taijutsu."

Tenten hung her head. "There's nothing you can teach me?"

Tsunade appeared to hesitate. She affirmed the brunette's statement with a shake in the negative. "Not yet. I'll have to check into some things first."

_'Poof'_

All four females moved their gazes to the cloud of white smoke that Jiraiya slowly exited out of. The older male searched the area before joining their circle, still only in his chain mail. Tsunade's annoyed expression clearly didn't bother the other sannin in the least when he decided to take a seat next to her.

"Where...is...Naruto?" Tsunade ground out through clenched teeth.

Jiraiya shrugged. "Probably everywhere." The sound of multiple explosions certified this. "I'd move out of the way if I were you. Get that other girl too." He pointed down at Kyuuka.

Shizune gathered the volcano village girl in her arms. The two younger kunoichi had no time to ponder what was going to occur. Tsunade grabbed them by their collars and sprinted as far away from the toad sannin as she could, Shizune on her heels. The two sidestepped a few fireballs before they made it to safety Tsunade looked back in time to see Naruto flip off of Jiraiya's forearm. The old male must have blocked the kick that would have likely jarred his brain.

Naruto watched the older male's movement but there were none. Jiraiya merely stood straight and stared at his pupil without getting into a fighting stance. Without warning he crossed his arms, took a seat on the grass, and watched the boy in amusement. The blonde watched in confusion. He suddenly breathed in sharply and quickly started the hand signs for the jutsu he'd been using so frequently as of late. Tsunade groaned when the Jiraiya in front of the blond disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The real toad sannin now sat on the prone blond with his hand on his head, watching the coming sunset. The other hand held Naruto's hands still so that he couldn't light them both if he tried. Jiraiya thought he'd be impulsive enough to. Especially when the reward was free ramen.

"Looks like you lose Gaki," Jiraiya gloated. "You've made some real progress in that jutsu. Although that's not where the problem lies..."

He heard Naruto grunt something unintelligible from under him. The blond went quiet soon afterward.

The toad sannin watched the other women make their way over to them. He sat atop Naruto in a manner that declared he'd just caught some wild beast and decided to show it off to the general population. Jiraiya's grin widened when they all sputtered and burst into laughter at his antics. He flexed a bit, releasing the hand from Naruto's skull so that the boy could gaze up at the women. The blonde's grin confused the older male, as well as the increase in laughter when the four women locked eyes with the blue eyed genin. Turning to his sensei, Naruto flashed a victory sign and burst into giggles as well. Jiraiya stood up swiftly, the smell of something burning reaching his nose. He looked back down at Naruto, who's big toe had a miniature flame emitting from it, and over his shoulder at the long tail of hair he had that was quickly disappearing upward.

Kyuuka, who'd awakened when she'd been picked up, released her own giggle when the toad sannin began running around the clearing in a frenzy to put his hair out. All the while Naruto sat on the ground, still laughing. He smiled and gave thumbs up to the volcano village girl, not noticing the blush that adorned her face as he did. It was his last action before he fell to the ground to succumb to the blissful darkness that exhaustion granted him.

* * *

"One more."

"You can't be serious! I've already put enough down!" A voice raised behind the Hokage door.

"_One _more. It's not going to kill you and it's your own damn fault anyway."

The deeper voice grunted. "Each zero adds another hole in my pocket."

The lighter voice laughed mockingly. "I thought you'd have learned when I lost my bet to him the first time. The gaki's lucky."

A scoff from male's voice."That's because you're just unlucky." An audible gulp echoed. "Fine! I didn't think he'd be smart enough to pull a stunt like that. One more and that's it."

Jiraiya exited the Hokage's office along with his old teammate to see Naruto talking animatedly with the three girls also in the waiting room. He cleared his throat, ready to present both Naruto's reward and his own evidence but Tsunade took the former from his hand. Mouthing the words 'just wait' to the older sannin, she presented Naruto with a piece of paper that nearly caused his eyes to double in size. Tsunade smiled warmly when the blond impulsively hugged her for no reason other than she presented him with the slip. The Godaime told him it would always be with her when he needed it and sent him on his way. Jiraiya took his evidence and left the tower, leaving Sakura and her sensei to their own devices.

"Tsunade-sensei..."

"We'll finish the spar tomorrow morning during normal training hours. He just woke up, so there's no need to guilt him into it right now," Tsunade explained.

Sakura nodded in understanding. "I'll go check on Sasuke-kun. Do you have to-"

Tsunade stared down at the girl. "I've somewhere else to be. The ANBU down there will let you pass without any problems."

Sakura nodded and left for the stairs. Tsunade, a bit tired though she was, exited the tower.

Outside, Naruto waved to Tenten over his shoulder while he and Kyuuka left in the direction of his home. The blond hadn't stopped glancing back at the piece of paper the entire time. The volcano village girl latched on his arm as they walked until he reached her home. Naruto had insisted on walking her home given the danger that sometimes lie in wait for the people he'd come to know and converse regularly with. He shook Kyuuka gently to rouse her from her light slumber.

Naruto locked eyes with the girl. "Arigatou. Without you I probably would have lost the bet."

Kyuuka stammered for a moment. "I-I...It was all you Naruto-s...Naruto. I...didn't do much."

"So tomorrow right?" Naruto spoke as if he didn't hear dismissal.

The girl nodded shyly. "Jiraiya-sama said you'd have to teach me it. I'll be waiting at the same place."

Naruto grinned. "Alright." He turned in the direction of Tenten's apartment, the night beginning to envelop him as he walked farther away. "I'll see you tomorrow then!" He yelled.

The blond kept on moving, though the numerous squeals of delight and happiness did slow him down enough to look back at the girls' apartment with a lopsided smile on. The streets were dark because of the late night hours. Only a few lamps were on around buildings and those were likely taverns and other unseemly places. He caught a glimpse of Ayame and Teuchi heading in the direction of their home or so he assumed. That meant no Ichiraku tonight. Sighing deeply, he hurried to the brunette's apartment for dinner. He'd always liked to celebrate his accomplishments with the best ramen in Konoha but it didn't seem to be a possibility tonight.

Tenten answered the door in a clean pair of the same pajamas as earlier. She beckoned the blond to come inside and sit down. The table had two large bags placed upon it which were both marked with the family crest of the Ichiraku family. Naruto gave her a curious look. The brunette shrugged.

"I didn't feel like cooking tonight and they were closing on the way home. Just don't tell Tsunade-sama," She warned.

Naruto sent an extremely grateful smile the brunette's way and started on the first bowl he came to. Tenten wasn't too far behind him. In a matter of minutes the six servings of ramen disappeared between the two genin. Tenten gestured to the sleeping bag near her own bed and the blond happily complied. A tap at the back window caught the brunette's attention. She walked over but could hardly make out the tall figure beneath it. The shower water turning on was the cue for Tenten to move the glass aside and send stare of confusion at the ninja beneath her window. Her bewilderment only increased when Tsunade appeared and attempted to drag the man off. The brunette ran outside and around the back. The two sannin stopped their arguing when she walked between them. This night air caused her to shiver.

Jiraiya passed her the papers in his hand. "He needs to see this."

Tenten's face saddened the minute she recognized them. "Does it have to be tonight? He's already-"

"No, it doesn't," Tsunade interrupted. "We'll tell him tomorrow. He doesn't need to be lectured right now."

Jiraiya grunted. "As long as he's awake we should. The kid's tough and it's not too big of a deal. I just need to make my point."

It took the brunette a moment to find her voice. "Jiraiya-sama...Naruto's been through a lot in the last few days. Can he just have one day of rest? I'll tell him tomorrow alright?"

Tsunade smirked at the brunette and nodded in assent. Jiraiya crumbled. He released a heavy sigh, running a hand through his much shorter hair as he did. "Tomorrow then."

The two sannin appeared to be leaving. Tenten shifted nervously. "Wait."

Tsunade and Jiraiya turned stoic gazes to her. The brunette shifted again. "I-I...I want to know what's going on. I already know Naruto has the Kyuubi inside him." Jiraiya opened his mouth but Tsunade stopped him from speaking. She motioned for Tenten to continue. "B-But something doesn't seem right. Why would we train today of all days and then only to be good teammates to Naruto? I don't mind and I'm very grateful but it doesn't make sense." Tenten stood firm, staring down the other two ninja. "If you two are worried that means it's something really bad. I want to know what's going on. Is there someone after Naruto?"

Jiraiya suddenly moved forward, brushing off Tsunade as he did. He pierced the brunette with a stare. Tenten suddenly felt like a child under his gaze. "You know about the Kyuubi and yet you still stay around Naruto. Why is that?"

The question unexpectedly re-lit the fire that slowly had begun to extinguish at Jiraiya's approach in the brunette's gaze. She fixed it upon the two sannin.

"It's because I care about him!"

The silence that followed only placed discomfort on the brunette. Tenten was unnerved but the curious glances from the older ninja. Then, without warning, they each put on their own versions of a smile. Jiraiya's lopsided and Tsunade's half hidden. Tsunade placed a hand upon her left shoulder while Jiraiya took the right.

"You're a good kid," Jiraiya commented. "And a little smarter than I took you for," he added.

Tsunade sighed. "If we're gone, someone's going to have to watch over that knucklehead. Just make sure he stays in line alright?"

Tenten's eyes widened. She felt that something had been entrusted to her that she didn't earn. "Gone? What do you-"

"In two and a half months Naruto and I are leaving Konoha," Jiraiya started. "There's a dangerous group after what's inside of him."

"We doubt they want the Kyuubi for any good purpose. Jiraiya and Naruto will be away for three years on a training trip to strengthen Naruto for the coming battle," Tsunade explained.

Tenten's felt something sting her eyes. "Three years?"

They nodded. "We haven't told Naruto about this yet. It'll likely be tomorrow when we do," Jiraiya stated.

The brunette sagged a little. "So...two and a half months...and then you'll be gone for three years," Tenten laughed sadly. "I doubt he'll be happy about this."

Jiraiya and Tsunade laughed along with her. A melancholic gloom fell over the three. Jiraiya turned abruptly, along with Tsunade, and walked in a different direction. Tenten was left to stare at their retreating back with a strange sense of foreboding. The brunette shook it off and ran back around the front to go inside. Naruto already lay in the sleeping bag. He sat up, eyes focused on the window that the three had been conversing under. Tenten's footsteps snatched him from his thoughts. He grinned at her while she turned out the lights.

"Where'd you go?"

There were a few seconds of quiet before she answered. "To get some air. The moon is full tonight."

Naruto didn't miss the gloom in her voice. He didn't call it to attention, choosing to turn over instead. "Alright. Goodnight Tenten."

No answer came. Tenten's footfalls came to rest beside his head instead. She gazed nervously, yet determinedly, down at him.

"Scoot over."

The blond forced down the rising gasp. He swallowed. "Huh?"

Tenten bit her bottom lip. "Naruto just...scoot over. Please."

Naruto found the anxiety in her voice and decided that the subject wasn't up for discussion. He wouldn't ask why when it was clearly evident she needed him. The blond made enough room to for her to slip in which she did, facing him. He raised a slow hand to run through her hair, going around the small buns as he did. Her sigh meant that, hopefully, she was put at ease and wouldn't stress herself over what currently pained her.

In all honesty he couldn't deny that he'd miss her too.

Naruto's gasp brought the brunette back to the current situation. She tried to make him resume his stroking but Naruto's hand didn't budge. "What's wrong?"

The blond chuckled a bit. "Your feet are _really _cold."

Tenten knit her eyebrows. "I was just outside. It takes a while for them to warm up."

Naruto stared at her for a moment. He slowly brought his arm around the brunette's waist to bring her closer. His eyes never left her expression. Tenten's front lightly pressed up against his own. Her right arm drifted under his left to pull him closer.

He smiled. "Think they'll get warmer like this?"

The brunette sighed deeply. Her right hand clenched his left shoulder softly. "I...I really like being like this. With you. I'll..."

She stopped. A hand softly sifted through the brunette's hair. A satisfied breath escaped her.

"'I care about you too Ten-chan."

The blond felt her stiffen in his arms. He waited for something to happen. Anything that would signify that she'd not been put off by him bringing up her earlier declaration to the two sannin. Eventually, the brunette relaxed a bit and both of their raging hearts slowed to a steady beat. Her grip tightened around him but Naruto paid no heed to it. He held her close and enjoyed the warmth that they shared. Naruto maneuvered his hands through her tresses perfectly until both bands were thrown somewhere in the room and her hair fell around her eyes.

"We can't..."

Naruto's breathing remained constant. Tenten felt no change present but knew her own hitched when he spoke.

"I know."

She clung to him tighter. "Because they're better for us."

"Because we made a deal," Naruto added.

"A promise."

"Exactly."

All went quiet. Naruto continued his rhythmic stroking through the brunette's hair until she shifted so they were face to face again. Ever so slowly, and so gently, she brought one hand up to caress his cheek in a manner not unlike earlier the day. Tenten enjoyed the soft gasps that he released every now and then until she pulled back unexpectedly, causing a small current of cold air to come between them.

"Tenten w-"

The brunette stopped him with a delicate finger on his lips.

"I thought about it...just now. Even though we can't and we're not supposed to be...I want you to be my first," A pretty blush came upon her face. Naruto's breathing stopped. He tried and failed several times to make a coherent sentence but the words 'my first' rung clearly throughout his head. Her smile came back but this time it was full of a different type of anxiety. The type that means one is anticipating something that they'll know is enjoyable but fear facing it because of that exact reason. His throat went dry as a desert and he desperately wished to find some sort of oasis so that he could utter a word.

"I-I've just never really kissed a guy before," Tenten continued. "And I know...with you I won't regret it."

Naruto deflated, thanking Kami as he did. He slowly faced the brunette again. "I-I don't think I'll regret it either. But I want you to be sure..."

Tenten ran a smooth hand over his cheek again. "I am. You'll miss your first kiss with Sakura if-"

"It's okay." Naruto found it surprising at how easily those words left him. He smiled softly. "I know I won't regret this. If we care about each other...we shouldn't regret it right?"

Tenten smiled back. "Right. So...kiss me."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't we both do it?"

Tenten shifted a bit. "I don't want to mess up..."

"You won't...because we'll do it together. On three?" The brunette nodded. Her hands grasped his face gently.

"One," Naruto breathed out softly. Hands settled themselves comfortably around her waist.

"T-Two," She pulled him closer, gazing into his eyes.

Neither one decided to make the final count to three. Naruto and Tenten merely lay in each others arms, faces close enough to touch but both a bit unwilling to do so because of the nervous air around them. Both seemed to be thinking the along the same lines. It wasn't until they assumed that the other thought they were going to win, which was certainly a silly thought at this time, that their competitive nature kicked in and they moved at the same time to meet in a less than gentle kiss. Despite the small twinge of pain this brought on, both genin slowly closed their eyes and moved closer within the others arms. Several seconds later they separated but didn't exchange words. Naruto brought her closer and Tenten imitated his action. It was only then: after the buildup, the countdown, and the inevitable shared, inexperienced kiss, that they two knew regret would be the last thing to cross their minds that night.

The full moon's light shone brightly on them through Tenten's small window. Before its luminescence disappeared from her apartment it highlighted the features of the two genin sleeping in each others arms, their common lip bruises a memento to what they shared together.

* * *

**For those of you that are searching for a time when Letters of Love will be updated, I'm thinking minimum a week. Still planning things out.  
**

**Review/Critique**


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